Non-conventional, intelligent, on-board radar imaging for postural analysis – SmartGaitLab

One of the major societal challenges facing the world between now and 2040 is the exponential ageing of the population [1]. In view of this public health problem, it is becoming essential to develop new technologies for early detection and to accompany them with a prevention plan, to keep elderly people independent in their own homes for as long as possible [2]. The main problem in this area is preventing falls, which can have serious consequences. The complexity lies in the multifactorial nature [12] of falls (fragility of the individual's biomechanics [3], nutrition, emotions, etc.). There are many studies on the subject, but the question is still open. Current solutions are based on the expertise of healthcare professionals, who rely on the results of various frailty tests. Today, these measurements and analyses are still carried out in specialised departments of medical structures, using rudimentary questionnaires and depending on the ‘eye of the specialist’.

As part of this call for proposals, the joint laboratory - SmartGaitLab - to be set up by Bluelinea and the ETIS laboratory (UMR8051) will focus on characterising a person's physical activities using unconventional camera approaches (radar), in real-life situations (hospital wards and specialised facilities such as EHPAD). The ambition in terms of innovation is to develop an operational system for measuring and quantifying the actimetrics of a target person, for use in a specialised facility. The first use case concerns the automated production of TUG (Timed Up and Go test) reports for care staff in specialised facilities or services. These tests quickly check a person's ability to move and identify any weaknesses. One of our innovations lies in the ability of our device to recognise a TUG (complete and partial) and extract its characteristics (static and dynamic), in a controlled environment (ETIS Laboratory). More specifically, the research focuses on 3 areas: 1. the design of the real-time radar imaging system (which can be integrated into Bluelinea's products for EHPAD), 2. the adaptation of the recognition and extraction algorithms to the real situation on the ground, and 3. evaluation in controlled environments and decision support for specialist staff. The main issues concern: 1. the automatic recognition of patients and their temporal follow-up, 2. the development of a small footprint algorithm enabling the system to be miniaturised, and 3. the extraction of fragility markers. Extraction of frailty markers over time.

In terms of short-term deadlines, the R&D programme will deliver a first deliverable in 2025 (prototype), which will be tested on targeted patients. These first ‘in vivo’ experiments will help to refine the treatments developed over a wide time scale and ultimately to strengthen the approaches and innovations in radar imaging. This Labcom is the continuation of a collaboration of over three years between Bluelinea and ETIS through 2 theses on the subject (CIFRE and PhD2 IDF region). The initial results have led to the creation of a laboratory prototype, tested on a cohort of 100 people and published in 8 journals, 13 conferences and 2 patents (CYU). They will form the basis of this joint laboratory. In terms of transfer, Labcom's strategy is to take the PoC to a TRL level close to 6 with a view to industrialisation and marketing by Bluelinea. At present, there is no similar scheme at either academic or industrial level. The approaches developed as part of this Labcom constitute innovations.