0:00:00.771,0:00:04.135
What's the fastest growing threat[br]to Americans' health?

0:00:04.135,0:00:06.973
Cancer? Heart attacks? Diabetes?

0:00:07.603,0:00:09.449
The answer is actually none of these;

0:00:09.449,0:00:11.250
it's Alzheimer's disease.

0:00:11.250,0:00:13.276
Every 67 seconds,

0:00:13.276,0:00:16.221
someone in the United States[br]is diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

0:00:16.761,0:00:20.149
As the number of Alzheimer's patients[br]triples by the year 2050,

0:00:20.149,0:00:23.446
caring for them, as well as[br]the rest of the aging population,

0:00:23.446,0:00:26.005
will become an overwhelming[br]societal challenge.

0:00:26.585,0:00:28.465
My family has experienced firsthand

0:00:28.465,0:00:30.967
the struggles of caring[br]for an Alzheimer's patient.

0:00:30.967,0:00:33.107
Growing up in a family[br]with three generations,

0:00:33.107,0:00:35.262
I've always been very close[br]to my grandfather.

0:00:35.262,0:00:36.689
When I was four years old,

0:00:36.689,0:00:39.192
my grandfather and I [br]were walking in a park in Japan

0:00:39.192,0:00:40.497
when he suddenly got lost.

0:00:40.497,0:00:43.710
It was one of the scariest moments[br]I've ever experienced in my life,

0:00:43.710,0:00:46.117
and it was also the first[br]instance that informed us

0:00:46.117,0:00:48.412
that my grandfather[br]had Alzheimer's disease.

0:00:48.682,0:00:52.025
Over the past 12 years,[br]his condition got worse and worse,

0:00:52.025,0:00:55.823
and his wandering in particular[br]caused my family a lot of stress.

0:00:55.823,0:00:57.302
My aunt, his primary caregiver,

0:00:57.302,0:01:00.349
really struggled to stay awake at night[br]to keep an eye on him,

0:01:00.349,0:01:03.047
and even then often failed[br]to catch him leaving the bed.

0:01:03.047,0:01:05.858
I became really concerned[br]about my aunt's well-being

0:01:05.858,0:01:07.599
as well as my grandfather's safety.

0:01:07.599,0:01:11.130
I searched extensively for a solution[br]that could help my family's problems,

0:01:11.130,0:01:12.490
but couldn't find one.

0:01:12.960,0:01:15.693
Then, one night about two years ago,

0:01:15.693,0:01:19.158
I was looking after my grandfather[br]and I saw him stepping out of the bed.

0:01:19.158,0:01:21.150
The moment his foot landed on the floor,

0:01:21.150,0:01:24.412
I thought, why don't I put[br]a pressure sensor on the heel of his foot?

0:01:24.412,0:01:26.809
Once he stepped onto the floor[br]and out of the bed,

0:01:26.809,0:01:30.516
the pressure sensor would detect an[br]increase in pressure caused by body weight

0:01:30.516,0:01:33.971
and then wirelessly send an audible alert[br]to the caregiver's smartphone.

0:01:33.971,0:01:36.312
That way, my aunt could sleep[br]much better at night

0:01:36.312,0:01:39.002
without having to worry[br]about my grandfather's wandering.

0:01:39.002,0:01:42.934
So now I'd like to perform[br]a demonstration of this sock.

0:01:45.134,0:01:47.802
Could I please have[br]my sock model on the stage?

0:01:48.831,0:01:50.560
Great.

0:01:52.170,0:01:55.950
So once the patient[br]steps onto the floor --

0:01:55.950,0:01:57.510
(Ringing) --

0:01:57.510,0:02:00.182
an alert is sent[br]to the caregiver's smartphone.

0:02:04.571,0:02:06.057
Thank you. (Applause)

0:02:06.057,0:02:09.225
Thank you, sock model.

0:02:12.045,0:02:14.649
So this is a drawing[br]of my preliminary design.

0:02:15.819,0:02:18.441
My desire to create[br]a sensor-based technology

0:02:18.441,0:02:21.969
perhaps stemmed from my lifelong love[br]for sensors and technology.

0:02:21.979,0:02:23.465
When I was six years old,

0:02:23.465,0:02:25.795
an elderly family friend[br]fell down in the bathroom

0:02:25.795,0:02:27.505
and suffered severe injuries.

0:02:27.505,0:02:29.606
I became concerned[br]about my own grandparents

0:02:29.606,0:02:31.958
and decided to invent[br]a smart bathroom system.

0:02:31.958,0:02:35.566
Motion sensors would be installed[br]inside the tiles of bathroom floors

0:02:35.566,0:02:39.404
to detect the falls of elderly patients[br]whenever they fell down in the bathroom.

0:02:39.404,0:02:41.416
Since I was only six years old at the time

0:02:41.416,0:02:43.739
and I hadn't graduated[br]from kindergarten yet,

0:02:43.739,0:02:48.073
I didn't have the necessary resources and [br]tools to translate my idea into reality,

0:02:48.073,0:02:50.706
but nonetheless, my research experience

0:02:50.706,0:02:54.957
really implanted in me a firm desire[br]to use sensors to help the elderly people.

0:02:54.957,0:02:59.573
I really believe that sensors can improve[br]the quality of life of the elderly.

0:03:00.944,0:03:04.425
When I laid out my plan, I realized[br]that I faced three main challenges:

0:03:04.425,0:03:06.194
first, creating a sensor;

0:03:06.194,0:03:07.773
second, designing a circuit;

0:03:07.773,0:03:09.519
and third, coding a smartphone app.

0:03:09.519,0:03:12.927
This made me realize that my project[br]was actually much harder to realize

0:03:12.927,0:03:14.982
than I initially had thought it to be.

0:03:14.982,0:03:18.476
First, I had to create a wearable sensor[br]that was thin and flexible enough[br]

0:03:18.476,0:03:21.237
to be worn comfortably[br]on the bottom of the patient's foot.

0:03:21.237,0:03:24.656
After extensive research and testing[br]of different materials like rubber,

0:03:24.656,0:03:28.191
which I realized was too thick to be worn[br]snugly on the bottom of the foot,

0:03:28.191,0:03:29.758
I decided to print a film sensor

0:03:29.758,0:03:32.660
with electrically conductive[br]pressure-sensitive ink particles.

0:03:32.660,0:03:36.236
Once pressure is applied, the connectivity[br]between the particles increases.

0:03:36.236,0:03:39.200
Therefore, I could design a circuit[br]that would measure pressure

0:03:39.200,0:03:40.967
by measuring electrical resistance.

0:03:41.267,0:03:44.026
Next, I had to design[br]a wearable wireless circuit,

0:03:44.026,0:03:47.338
but wireless signal transmission[br]consumes lots of power

0:03:47.338,0:03:49.101
and requires heavy, bulky batteries.

0:03:49.101,0:03:52.728
Thankfully, I was able to find out[br]about the Bluetooth low energy technology,

0:03:52.728,0:03:56.251
which consumes very little power[br]and can be driven by a coin-sized battery.

0:03:56.251,0:03:59.880
This prevented the system[br]from dying in the middle of the night.

0:03:59.880,0:04:03.343
Lastly, I had to code a smartphone app[br]that would essentially transform

0:04:03.343,0:04:05.821
the care-giver's smartphone[br]into a remote monitor.

0:04:05.821,0:04:09.497
For this, I had to expand upon[br]my knowledge of coding with Java and XCode

0:04:09.497,0:04:12.984
and I also had to learn about how to code[br]for Bluetooth low energy devices

0:04:12.984,0:04:15.860
by watching YouTube tutorials[br]and reading various textbooks.

0:04:17.230,0:04:21.019
Integrating these components, I was able[br]to successfully create two prototypes,

0:04:21.019,0:04:23.347
one in which the sensor[br]is embedded inside a sock,

0:04:23.347,0:04:25.743
and another that's[br]a re-attachable sensor assembly

0:04:25.743,0:04:27.949
that can be adhered anywhere[br]that makes contact

0:04:27.949,0:04:29.782
with the bottom of the patient's foot.

0:04:29.782,0:04:32.682
I've tested the device on my grandfather[br]for about a year now,

0:04:32.682,0:04:34.593
and it's had a 100 percent success rate

0:04:34.593,0:04:38.089
in detecting the over 900 [br]known cases of his wandering.

0:04:38.629,0:04:41.052
Last summer, I was able[br]to beta test my device

0:04:41.052,0:04:43.598
at several residential[br]care facilities in California,

0:04:43.598,0:04:45.770
and I'm currently incorporating[br]the feedback

0:04:45.770,0:04:48.733
to further improve the device [br]into a marketable product.

0:04:48.733,0:04:50.841
Testing the device on a number of patients

0:04:50.841,0:04:53.350
made me realize that I needed[br]to invent solutions

0:04:53.350,0:04:56.235
for people who didn't want[br]to wear socks to sleep at night.

0:04:56.805,0:04:59.630
So sensor data, collected[br]on a vast number of patients,

0:04:59.630,0:05:01.959
can be useful for improving patient care

0:05:01.959,0:05:04.777
and also leading to a cure[br]for the disease, possibly.

0:05:04.777,0:05:06.620
For example, I'm currently examining [br]

0:05:06.620,0:05:09.848
correlations between the frequency[br]of a patient's nightly wandering

0:05:09.848,0:05:12.714
and his or her daily activities and diet.

0:05:13.854,0:05:16.615
One thing I'll never forget[br]is when my device first caught

0:05:16.615,0:05:18.833
my grandfather's wandering[br]out of bed at night.

0:05:18.833,0:05:21.784
At that moment, I was really struck[br]by the power of technology

0:05:21.784,0:05:23.761
to change lives for the better.

0:05:24.011,0:05:26.131
People living happily and healthfully --

0:05:26.131,0:05:28.156
that's the world that I imagine.

0:05:28.156,0:05:30.216
Thank you very much.

0:05:30.216,0:05:33.526
(Applause)