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IntroductionThe Nexus Market analysis for Mi-crosystems has been the most recog-nized source of market data for Mi-crosystems worldwide since 1998.The Task Force Market Analysis hasjust released the updated report en-titled “Market Analysis for MEMSand Microsystems III 2005- 2009.”This follows on from the highly suc-cessful 1996-2002 and 2000-2005 re-ports that have become industrystandards. The new report is com-pletely revised. It shows new MEMS/MST products, application fields anda worldwide regional analysis ofcompetencies

The total market for MEMS and Mi-crosystemsThe new study estimates a projectedmarket growth for 1st level pack-aged Microsystems and MEMS fromUS$ 12 billion in 2004 to 25 billion in2009. This corresponds to an AnnualCompound Growth Rate (CAGR) of16%. Considering the traditionalNEXUS definition used in the reportsI and II - the market for the smallestunit, incorporating MSTcomponent(s), that is commerciallyavailable - the market will increasefrom US$ 33.5 billion in 2004 to US$57.1 billion.

Market by MEMS/MST products: micro-displays are the new block-busterGraph 1 features the market for 26MEMS/MST products investigated inthe study Three products will still ac-count for 70% of the market in 2009:read/write heads, Inkjet heads andmicro-displays.

• RW heads will still representaround 51% of the market in2009. Traditional application forPCs will grow moderately; howev-er, the RW market is experiencinga renaissance in consumer elec-tronics as hard discs are enteringmusic players (e.g. in every famousi-pod), in smart phones (Samsungintroduced the first cell phonewith HDD in 2004), as well as digi-tal video cameras, set top players,DVD recorders, etc.

• Inkjet heads will continue to beone of the most profitable mar-kets for MEMS. The main driverfor inkjet heads in the next 4 yearsis the printing of digital photos –especially cell phone cameras –growing at 15% to 20% per year.A major trend is the integration ofnon-disposable inkjet heads in theprinter instead of disposable print

heads in cartridges. After Epsonand Canon, HP is starting to shipprinters with integrated printhead. This will slow down thegrowth in units; however, the val-ue of these non-disposable printheads is 3 to 5 times higher.

• Microdisplays are the blockbusterof the 2004-2009 period. Micro-displays revenues will overtakeinkjet heads in 2009 as Texas In-struments is forging ahead withthe DLP chip for front projectorsand rear projection TVs. DLP tech-nology dominated the pront pro-jector market almost 40% marketshare in 2004 and is also dominat-ing the large screen rear projec-tion market segment. The emer-gence of new MEMS micro dis-plays products such as iMoD dis-plays for mobile handsets fromQualcomm is also worth noticing.

Other fast growing markets are mi-crophones, RF MEMS, and tire pres-sure monitors next to establishedpressure and motion sensors, whichare increasingly being driven by con-sumer applications.

Emerging markets include waferprobes, liquid lenses for

NEXUS Market Analysis for MEMS and MicrosystemsIII 2005 - 2009Henning Wicht and Jérémie Bouchaud

MEMS and Microsystems sensorsand actuators are consolidatingtheir position in established mar-kets and finding new applications,leveraging a combination of lowmanufacturing cost, compact size,low weight and power consump-tion, and increased intelligence. Inthe next five years, the market willgrow at 16% per year from $12 bil-lion in 2004 to $25 billion in 2009for 26 MEMS/MST products. Chiefamong these are read/write headswith a 51% share and micro-dis-plays, which will overtake inkjetheads by 2009. Fast growing mar-kets for microphones, RF MEMS,and tire pressure monitors are ex-amined next to established pres-sure and motion sensors, which areincreasingly being driven by con-sumer applications.

Graph 1: Total market for 26 MST/MEMS products

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autofocus/zoom in camera phones,micro-motors, micro-spectrometers,micro-pumps and micro-reactionproducts. NEXUS also considers prod-ucts that will begin to impact mar-kets at the end of the decade, name-ly micro fuel cells, MEMS memoriesand e-fuses, chip coolers.

Market by application field: con-sumer electronics driving marketgrowth

The market by application field asshown in graph 3 may be subdividedinto three main application fields: ITperipherals, Automotive and Con-sumer Electronics.

• IT peripherals will by far remainthe first application field of MEMSand MST in 2009, mainly with RWheads and inkjet heads. However,the share of IT peripherals will de-crease from 69% to 54%.

• Automotive will remain a majorapplication field with several killerapplication fields such as airbagsor Tire Pressure Monitoring(TPMS). Numbers of units will stillgrow at a rapid pace; however,the growth in revenue will bemoderate due to a continuouspressure on prices (e.g. gyro-scopes: + 15% /year in units buts8% in revenue).

• Consumer electronics will experi-ence the strongest market growthin the time period under consider-ation and will overtake automo-tive. The share of consumer elec-tronics in MEMS/MST markets willgrow from 6% in 2004 to 22% in2009.

NEXUS identified the three driversfor MEMS in consumer electronics asthe following:

1. Large screens High DefinitionTelevision for everybody. Indeed,the market for rear projection TVsis skyrocketing from 6.5 M units in2005 to 11.9 M units in 2009 ac-cording to iSuppli Corp.

2. More storage in digital equip-ment. HDD enter digital videocameras, music players, smartphones… Shipment of HDDs is ex-pected to explode in consumerelectronics from 10 M units in2004 to 200 M units in 2009

3. Mobile handset…you can alsophone with it. After MEMS ac-celerometers from ADI which en-tered a cell phone from NTT Doco-mo in September 2003, a numberof MEMS products are followingincluding pressure sensors, gyro-scopes, MEMS display, micro fuelcell, MEMS fingerprint, liquid lens-es, thermopiles…

ConclusionThe MEMS/MST market volume wasworth $12billion in 2004. It is expect-ed to reach $24billion in 2009. Thegrowth is still rapid: 16% CAGR invalue in 2004–2009. Consumer elec-tronics will drive market growth inthe next 4 years. With regard toproducts, 14 out of 26 MEMS/MSTproducts are expected to exceed$100 million in revenue in 2009.Completely new products in 2009will include micro fuel cells, MEMSmemories, chip coolers, liquid lensesfor cell phone zoom and autofocus.

Contact:Henning Wicht, PresidentJérémie BouchaudWTC – Wicht Technologie ConsultingFrauenplatz 5D-80331 Munich, GermanyE-Mail: henning.wicht@wtc-consult.de

Graph 2: MST/MEMS market by application fields

Graph 3: Market for MST/MEMS in consumer electronics

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sclerosis (MS) patients and it verifiedthat the system is actually able to im-prove the patient’s quality of life. It isnecessary to consider the fact that asmart assistive toilet will bring directand indirect benefit to all the stake-holders involved. Being more inde-pendent and autonomous in usingthe toilet is not only important forthe individual's quality of life but alsofor the wider society.

By introducing innovative technolo-gies in the area of toilet and especial-ly by providing a complete solutionfor the whole toileting area, the FRRconsortium has contributed to em-powering old and/or disabled personsto use public restrooms throughoutEurope even if the individual has anincreasing level of disability, and tosupporting secondary users by provid-ing an innovative, user-friendly andhighly adaptable, smart toilet system.For more information regarding the

different activities and outcome ofthe FRR project, please contact theweb site of the consortium atwww.frr-consortium.org and the sitewww.fortec.tuwien.ac.at/frr.

AcknowledgementsFRR was partially funded in 2002-2005 by the European Commission asproject QLRT-2001-00458 under theQuality of Life programme. Projectpartners: Industrial Design Engineer-ing - TU-Delft (NL), fortec - ResearchGroup for Rehabilitation Technology,TU-Vienna (AT), Certec - Departmentof Rehabilitation Engineering, LundUniv. (SE), EURAG - European Federa-tion of Older Persons, Graz (AT), Lab-oratory of Health Informatics – Univ.of Athens (GR), Applied Computing –Dundee Univ. (UK), Landmark DesignHolding, Rotterdam (NL), Clean Solu-tion Kft, Debrecen (HU), SIVA - Cen-tro IRCCS S.Maria Nascente, Milan(IT), HAGG – Hellenic Association ofGerontology and Geriatrics, Athens(GR). Ethical Review Team: Institutefor Design & Assessment of Technolo-gy, Vienna (AT)We gratefully acknowledge the in-tensive contributions to the FRR pro-ject provided by the members of theuser boards and by the persons whohave participated in the iterative cy-cles of prototype testing.

References[1]Manufacturing Partner of the FRR

Consortium: Clean Solution Kft,Hungary, www.cstechnologie.com/and www.conplan.org

[2]P. Panek, G. Edelmayer, C. Mag-nusson, et al.: Investigations to de-velop a fully adjustable intelligent

toilet for supporting old peopleand persons with disabilities - theFriendly Rest Room (FRR) Project,in: K. Miesenberger et al. (Eds.):Computer Helping People withSpecial Needs, ISBN: 3-540-22334-7,LCNS 3118, Springer, pp. 392-399,2004.

[3]R. de Bruin, J. FM Molenbroek, T.Groothuizen, M. van Weeren: Onthe development of a friendly restroom, Proc. of INCLUDE Conf., In-clusive Design for Society and Busi-ness, 2003

[4]N. Gentile, et al.: Concept, Settingup and first Results from a RealLife Installation of an ImprovedToilet System at a Care Institutionin Austria, to be published in [5]

[5]J. Molenbroek et al. (Eds): Devel-oping adaptable toilets of the fu-ture for disabled and elderly peo-ple, to be published by IOS press in2005

[6]C. Dayé: The FRR-questionnaire -Assessing Who Needs WhatWhere, to be published in [5]

[7]C. Dayé and M. Egger de Campo:User-Driven Research - How to in-tegrate users' needs and expecta-tions in a research project, to bepublished in [5]

Contact:Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Zaglerfortec - Research Group on RehabilitationTechnologyVienna University of TechnologyFavoritenstrasse 11/029A-1040 Vienna, AustriaPhone: +43 1 58801 42900Fax: +43 1 58801 42999E-Mail: zw@fortec.tuwien.ac.atwww.fortec.tuwien.ac.at/frr

Figure 3: Height and tilt changes to supportstanding up.

Elderly bedridden persons have atendency to decubitus, incontinence,unconsciousness, sweating, highheartbeat and similar conditions.Persons with dementia tend to es-cape from bed. A regular surveillancemakes it possible to find out about apatient’s current state. If necessary,an appropriate response can be acti-vated. Quick measurements of sever-al parameters (surface pressure, tem-perature, humidity etc.) serve as abasis for the required decisions.

The modular structured bed coverconsists of several systems to registerthe parameters measured by inte-grated textile sensors.

The systems consist of the sensoricbed cover, an electronic device toprocess signals and a computer toprocess and store the data. All infor-mation is processed for further usevia standard interface.In the telematic solution the infor-mation is transferred to a central da-

Sensoric Textile Bed CoverKlaus Richter and Mario Möbius

ITP GmbH aims to develop textileproducts based on high tech – in-novations, developments of severalsciences and businesses with thetechnological potential of the tex-tile industry. Together with Fraun-hofer Gesellschaft e.V., SCAI andthe companies Suess Medizin-Tech-nik and theTelematik-Center TMDGmbH, ITP developed a telematicpatient surveillance system basedon a textile sensoric bed cover.

Continuation from page 15

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ta bank via internet, where severalmeasures can be coordinated.The system is suited for people whoare in need of care and attention, es-pecially for home care use. The two-layered textile sensoric bed cover isplaced on the mattress of the bed.

Maintenance:The top and the bottom layer consistof the tight material AmbaGate,which is permitted for clinical use. Itis welded to build a cover. 17 sensorson a carrier layer are embedded inthis cover. Both, cover and carrier,can be tended textile.

The bed cover was equipped withthe following sensors:• 12 textile pressure sensors with a

size of 10cm x 10cm each• 1 textile humidity sensor• 1 textile sensor for incontinence• 3 temperature sensors

Textile pressure sensors:Textile pressure sensors developed byITP were first used in this system. Theuse of textiles and avoidance of oth-er materials is the particularly at-tribute of this innovative sensor. Thisimplies positive attributes like textilecare and a sensoric effect over thewhole area. A specific arrangementand analysis ensure detection of apatient’s position and movements.

Detecting movements helps preventdecubitus. A person’s staying in bedmay be recognized. After operationsa certain position can be kept undersurveillance. Through combinationwith the other sensors a multitude ofconditions are deducible.

12 textile pressure sensors are em-bedded in the cover. They work inde-pendently from each other. The ca-pacitive principle is performed bytwo conductive textile surfaces thatbuild a plate condenser, while thecarrying layer is the dielectric. It pre-vents plates contacting each other.

Powering the condenser with volt-age, an electric field develops be-tween the plates.

The stored energy W and the chargeQ depend on the capacity C and thevoltage U.

The capacity is determined by the de-sign of the condenser and it's gettinghigher as:• the size of the plates increases,• the distance between the plates

decreases.

The capacity is changed by changingthe dielectric. This effect is used toreceive electrical signals. The pres-sure sensors in the cover have thefollowing capacities:• 30 pF without pressure• 50 pF while maximally loaded

The sensor consists of a spacer fabricwith high conductive surfaces. Totransfer the signals outside those sur-faces are contacted to the electronicdevice using conductive glue.

Textile Humidity Sensors:The Textile Research Institute Greize.V.developed those humidity sen-

sors. They detect relative humiditywithin the bed cover. A patient’ssweating can thus be established.The working principle bases on resis-tivity. The sensor signal output is in-directly proportional to humidity.The same sensor is integrated in theelectronic device, because the hu-midity of the environment influencesthe measurements of the sensor inthe bed cover. This allows calculatingactual humidity.

The sensor for incontinence is locat-ed in the centre of the cover nearthe surface. Since it emits a 0/1 sig-nal, calibration is not needed.The contact zones are at the rightand left end of the sensor. Again thecontact is realized using conductiveglue.

Temperature Sensor:To detect a patient sweating, his/hertemperature has to be measured too.Likewise a non-intentional uncover-ing and subsequent freezing can bedetected. A reference in the elec-tronic device is planned to receiveprecise results.

Analysis of Sensor Signals:The electric signals are transferred bya bus system via flat cable to a plugthat is still part of the bed cover.The plugged electronic device con-trols and analyzes the measured sig-nals. The sensoric bed cover is aclosed textile system that can belinked via standard protocol to sever-al other systems.

Contact: Mr. Klaus Richter, CEOITP GmbHOtto-Schmerbach-Str. 1909117 Chemnitz, Germany Phone: +49 3643 777596Fax: +49 3643 202088 E-Mail : richter@gitp.org

Picture 4: Textile Humidity Sensor

Picture 1: Electronic device with mains applianceand wire to the bed cover

Picture 2: Arrangement of textile sensors in thecarrying layer– here: 6 pressure sensors and 1 humidity sensor

Picture 3: Structure of textile pressure sensor

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The health care needIt is widely claimed that innovation inhealthcare technologies can con-tribute to increased access to and im-proved quality of care and reducedcosts. Health care consumes 15% ofthe US gross national product andover 10% in Japan and Europe, andthese numbers are increasing. With healthcare expenditures of overseveral millions Euros, even small effi-ciency gains in labour – the most ex-pensive element - can have a signifi-cant economic impact. Technologiesfor ambient assisted living can help,by addressing the problem of trans-ferring basic patient information overnetworks, holding diagnosis, treat-ment, monitoring and education ofpatients by using systems that allowremote access to expert advice and

patient information. For the devicesand software to be effective, howev-er, it is necessary to integrate technol-ogy with healthcare applications andclinical procedures.New developments in assistive tech-nology are likely to make an impor-tant contribution to enabling elderlypeople to live self-determined andcomfortably in their own home. Re-mote health and video monitoring,wireless electronic sensors and equip-ment such as fall detectors, heath andhumidity alarms can improve olderpeople’s safety and security. Care athome is often preferable to patientsand is usually less expensive for careproviders than institutional alterna-tives: having patients treated andmonitored outside hospital structuresis not only an economic issue but animportant aspect in improving thequality of life of the patient. With thisaim in mind, we highlight an impor-tant consideration that has come fromthe Association for the Advancementof Assistive Technology in Europe(AAATE) conference (AAATE 2003Conference, Dublin): “There has beenconsiderable interest in providing as-sistive technologies and telecare solu-tions to enable people to stay in theirown homes for longer. However,there has been little formal evaluationof these technologies.“ The next gen-eration of older people may live in aworld where every beat of theirhearts and every ordinary thing theydo is watched, analyzed, and evaluat-ed for signs of trouble. Such care mayactually be less intrusive than the al-ternative: the loss of independencethat follows when people must leavetheir own homes for nursing homes.

The case studyThe ITEA (Trentino Institute for PublicHousing), a public institution utilizedby the Autonomous Province of Tren-to (Italy) to implement public residen-tial housing projects, has started a do-motic programme to aid citizens withphysical disabilities. Particular atten-tion is given to the elder population,as the average age is increasing. In theTrento province, 17,8% of the total

population is above 65, 8,7% is above75, and 2,4% above 85. The goal is tolet the elder citizens live in their homeas long as possible to avoid the dis-comforts of hospitalization, but pro-viding the same level of safeness andhealth monitoring. The reference sce-nario within the ITEA programme isthat of an autonomous elder homeuser whose environment is pervadedwith sensors and computing devices,which, in turn, are connected to re-mote assistance as required and ap-propriate for each specific case.

A solution based on MicrosystemTechnology In the first phase of the project, wehave decided to focus on the detec-tion of the fall of the home inhabi-tant. This is one of the most commonhome accidents for elder people. Todetect a fall we use two types of sen-sor: (1) a custom wearable MEMS ac-celerometer with WiFi radio transmit-ter, being developed by ITC-irst andDIT-University of Trento; (2) a set ofWiFi cameras together with a sophisti-cated image processing module com-puting mass centre and posture in re-al-time, developed by CNR-IMM ofLecce. The devices publish their eventson the event server; one of their sub-scribers is an expert system that pro-vides instantaneous reaction to alarmsituations and longer-term mining ofdata to detect patterns of behaviour.The expert system, based on the JESSrule engine, uses ECA rules and ap-proximate pattern matching.The general architecture is summa-rized in Figure 1. All sensors, includingthe video, broadcast updates on theirstate on dedicated multicast IP chan-nels; in particular, the video process-ing system sends its current hypothesison the posture of the person beingtracked as well as the raw output ofthe neural networks, analyzing thefeatures at the end of the analysis ofeach frame. Similarly, a computerequipped with a radio receiver filtersthe raw data sent by wearable sen-sors, removes noise, and re-send themon its multicast channel.

MEMS-based Technologies and Smart Detection Systems for Ambient Assisted LivingLeandro Lorenzelli, Cosimo Distante, Andrea Simoni, Paolo Busetta and Mukhiya Ravindra

The aging of the population, the in-creasing cost of hospitalization, andthe desire for living independentlyin a familiar environment makeMEMS-based technologies andsmart sensors for home safety par-ticularly valuable to elders as wellas to their concerned relatives andto health authorities. Care at homeis often preferable for patients andis usually less expensive for careproviders than institutional alterna-tives. For healthcare applications,the objectives are to recognize andto prevent potentially dangeroussituations. Heath and humidityalarms, remote health monitoring,wireless and wearable electronicmicrosensors, such as fall detectors,can improve older people’s safetyand security. Sophisticated multi-sensor fusion is often needed inhome care to reduce the chance ofmissing events and at the sametime preventing a sense of intrusionin the private life of the patient.We present, as a case study, a sys-tem in which data from wearablewireless MEMS devices are integrat-ed with information from static op-tical environmental sensors to de-tect home accidents and react ac-cording to user’s feedback (or lackof it, as in case of a shock).

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The MEMS-based wearable fall sensor The first prototype of wearable sensorused for the current demonstrator isan accelerometer, developed by Mi-crosystems Division of ITC-irst, to beattached at the level of the hips. Bothcommercial and custom MEMS-basedaccelerometers have been evaluatedas fall detector. MEMS inertial sensorsare becoming more and more popularbecause of their small size, CMOScompatibility, reliability and on chipintegration with the electronics.Among varieties of applications ofMEMS accelerometer, here our focusof concern is on the consumer andsafety appliances. Bulk microma-chined accelerometer is a miniaturizedsilicon accelerometer based on New-ton’s second law of motion, consistingof seismic mass, four beams and refer-ence frame. Proof mass is truncatedpyramidal shaped due to an-isotropicetching in TMAH (25%), and suspend-ed by four beams symmetrically.Beams are placed on the edges ofproof mass to minimize off-axis sensi-tivity. N-type (100) Si wafer is used tofabricate the accelerometer, in whichproof mass edges and beams are ori-ented in <110> direction. Sensing isbased on the piezoresistive propertyof the silicon because of its ease offabrication and to integrate with elec-tronics, but suffers from cross axis sen-sitivity because beams are on the topof the wafer. Cross axis sensitivity is minimized bythe proper electrical interconnectionsof the piezoresistors and connected toform a Wheatstone bridge. Based onsimulation and technological limita-tions the device dimensions are foundto be 9900 µm X 5500 µm. Sensing di-rection and range are application-spe-cific; the device is designed for low-gsinge-axis (out-of-plane) acceleration,but can be used for two/three axis ac-celeration measurement by changingthe orientation and the sensing direc-tion.

This device samples the vertical accel-eration and sends up to 4 notificationsper seconds, representing the averagevalue of the acceleration since the lastnotification: at regular intervals theaccelerometer sends a liveliness mes-sage to inform of correct functioning,then it notifies when it detects accel-eration due to the fall and an evenstronger, negative acceleration due tothe impact with ground. Finally, noacceleration is detected when the useris lying on the floor. To save battery,messages are sent only in the pres-ence of a significant acceleration andfor a short time afterwards.

Image processing and event aggregationThe recognition experiments havebeen executed on grey level sequenceimages acquired with a Pulnix CCDcamera at a frame rate of 15Hz. Exam-ples of casually chosen images used inthe experiments are shown in Figure3. The images coming from the cam-era are analyzed and the position ofthe user is categorized in “upright”,“bent” or “lying”. The software isvery accurate as long as there are noother people in the range of the cam-era, otherwise tracking of the usermay result in mistakes. Finally, the ex-pert system aggregates the notifica-

tions from the accelerometer andfrom the camera and generates an“attention” event followed by a “falldetected” event. The implemented ar-chitecture is completed by a wirelesssubscribing to the “fall detected”event, and generating an alarmwhenever notified of the fall event.

ConclusionsInitial tests on our fall detector arevery positive. Its architecture is de-signed to accommodate additionalsensors (biometrical and biochemicalsensors) and processing components.The results obtained inevitably lead tothe conclusion that the proposed mi-crosystem architecture could be a veryuseful tool for monitoring and man-aging health status in a person. Never-theless, a thought should also be giv-en to the massive amount of testingthat any medical system must gotrough before being allowed out intothe market.

Contact:Dr. Leandro LorenzelliITC-irst Microsystems Division, Via Sommarive, 18 I- 38050 Povo (TN) – ITALYPhone: +39 0461 314455Fax: +39 0461 314 591E-Mail: lorenzel@itc.it

Figure 1: General system architecture

Figure 2: MEMS accelerometer. Finite element simulation of displacement in Z- direction (left) andmicrophotograph of the fabricated device (centre) and first prototype of the wireless wearable falldetector (right).

Figure 3: Example of image sequences used for posture estimation in the experiments, (the set is aseries of people images in standing, squatting and laying position) and results of the adaptive back-ground subtraction technique for motion detection in indoor scene (bottom centre image).

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The Laser Long Cane is a primary mo-bility device for the blind. A laser sys-tem, integrated into the handle of aconventional long cane, provides pro-tection against obstacles in the headand chest area like lorry loadingramps or low-hanging branches thatcannot be detected by the conven-tional long cane.

The laser beam is emitted in walkingdirection approximately 90° to thecane and shaped like a fan: it is fo-

cused in the horizontal and widenedin the vertical dimension (see Fig. 1).

Thus, the space directly above thecane is covered. As soon as an obstacleis detected within the cane’s rangethe handle vibrates, forcing the userto react. Since the laser fan is very nar-row and is projected above the cane,obstacles can be localised very accu-rately.

In the field of electronic travel aidsthe unique selling proposition is thelimitation of the range to the lengthof the long cane. This range limitationspares the user a lot of unnecessarywarning signals and it allows simpleyes/no information.

Technically speaking, the Laser LongCane uses a Lidar (light detection andranging) system based on the time-of-flight principle. A short laser pulse(30Wpeak, 3,5ns fwhm, 1kHz repeti-tion rate) is generated and the reflect-

ed light is detected by a high-speeddetector. The detector is equippedwith an avalanche photodiode (APD),the signal of which is amplified by athree-stage amplifier. The main prob-lem during the development of thedetector was to find a suitable com-promise between sensitivity, speed,power consumption and accuracywhile dealing with signals of very highdynamics (6 orders of magnitude!

Laser Technique Improves Safety for the BlindMaria Ritz and Lutz König

Blind people use a long cane fororientation. The long cane is a verysimple, yet very effective aid. How-ever, it has one major disadvan-tage: Obstacles in the head andchest area are not detected andthis can lead to accidents and in-juries. Vistac GmbH in Teltow, Ger-many, has developed the LaserLong Cane to overcome these diffi-culties using laser distance measur-ing techniques. Figure 1: Use of the Laser Long Cane (red is a

schematic representation of the laser beamshape)

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Imagine a bright wall directly in frontof the detector or a clothes line ashigh as a user’s head, i. e. at a dis-tance of 1.5 metres).

The time interval between the emis-sion and the detection of the laserlight is analysed by a mixed-signal cir-cuit generating a logic signal. This log-ic signal is interpreted by the micro-controller, which, in case of an obsta-cle, sends out the warning signal. Be-sides, the microcontroller monitorsthe functioning of the system, e.g. theaccumulators, the voltage supplies,laser pulse, etc. The user is warned bya vibrational signal, similar to the vi-brational alarm in mobile phones, butmuch stronger.

The warningdistance is indi-vidually adjust-ed to the sizeand cane tech-nique of the us-er by simplepush buttons.

The two-fold laser optics consists of astandard collimator and a microlens-array serving as a line generator. Theeasiest solution for a line generator –a cylindrical lens – could not be used,because these lenses create a Gaussianintensity profile. But it is essential todetect especially obstacles at the up-per end of the line, i.e. at the heightof the user’s head. For the same rea-son no off-the-shelf lens for the detec-tor could be used. The boundary con-ditions for the detector optics were: 1. high sensitivity at large detectionangles, 2. focus of large angles ontothe small diameter of the high-speed-photodiode (photosensitive area0.25mm2), 3. small distance betweenthe lens and the photodiode. The bestresult could be achieved by usingmeniscus lense slightly off focus. The

efficiency for off-axis light was in-creased and the distance betweenlens and APD could be kept as small as6mm while focusing light from an an-gle of 35° onto the 0.5mm diameterof the APD. Fig. 2 shows the interiorof the Laser Long Cane handle.

The two AA batteries are enclosed inthe rear end of the AL-tube, whereasthe front end holds the end of thelong cane.

The Laser Long Cane may not be liter-ally a micro-nano device, but it is oneof the – if not the – smallest, lightestand least power consuming lidar sys-tems. Future development will con-centrate on further integration andminiaturisation to minimise size,weight and power consumption.

ContactDr. Lutz König Vistac GmbHWarthestr. 2114513 Teltow, GermanyE-Mail: koenig@vistac.dePhone: +49 3328 35 37 21

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Autonomous livingThere is a growing concern over thespeed and scale of global ageingworldwide and ageing society is oneof the largest preoccupations for in-dustrial countries. Statistics about the demographic evo-lution of the EU population (about374 million) gives a good illustrationof this matter. It appears that in 200320% of the population was over 60and forecasts show an increasing

trend to reach 25% in 2020 and 33%in 2050.In addition, demographic trends showas well that an increasing proportionof elderly persons in most Westerncountries are living alone, often in ur-ban regions, and this propensity in-creases with age, especially for wom-en in very old age. The likelihood ofliving in a nursing facility increaseswith age but most elderly peoplewish to live independently as long aspossible.A German study, conducted by“Deutsches Zentrum für Altern-forschung” in 2001, shows the follow-ing results:About 93.5% of Germans over 65years of age live in private house-holds, while 1.6% in special housingfor the aged (e.g., assisted living), and5.3% in nursing homes.

Elderly Remote Video Monitoring: Latest Technological Developments for a Greater Autonomy and Intimacy Preservation Virginie Carniel

Older people consider the fact ofbeing able to manage their ownhome as central to their indepen-dence. To facilitate remote moni-toring of elderly people, EMITALLSurveillance has developed ad-vanced solutions providing imageaccess and automatic alarm notifi-cation via remote devices in mobileenvironment (e.g. mobile phones,smart phones, etc.) and Internetenvironment (e.g. PC’s, laptops,PDA’s, etc.). The system performsautomatic event detection relyingon one or more cameras, and even-tually other sensors such as micro-phones, smoke or motion detec-tors. The scene under surveillance iscontinuously recorded and can beconsulted either in real-time or off-line. By analyzing the signals fromsensors, and using advanced signal

Figure 2: Interior of the Laser Long Cane handle

processing algorithms, the systemdetects alarm situations and noti-fies appropriate recipients. An au-tomatic scrambling of regions cor-responding to people enables rela-tives, caregivers, and authorizedthird parties to remotely verify thesituation of elderly persons whilepreserving their intimacy.

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Of the 9.6 million private householdswith one or more persons over 65years of age, 52.4% are single-personhouseholds, 42.1% are two-personhouseholds, and 5.5% are three-or-more-person households. Those aged 60 to 64 years old spend19 hours per day at home, whereasthose over 70 years of age spend 20.5hours per day at home, which corre-sponds to ca. 80% of the day.It is clear then that among various so-cio-economical factors, housing condi-tions and autonomous living can beconsidered as some of the most im-portant elements for the quality oflife of older people. According to theSwiss National Research Program NRP32 “Ageing” (François Höpflinger andAstrid Stuckelberger), they have acentral effect on social integration. The wish to stay in one’s own homerequires measures (e.g. forms of hous-ing suitable for people with disabili-ties, remote monitoring systems) thatenable autonomous living to remainpredominant as long as possible. Lat-est developments of household tech-nologies are the type of actions that

contribute to improving elderly peo-ple’s autonomy.The rapid development of micro-sys-temic sensors, micro-electronic instru-ments and telecommunication-basedsupport services is opening up newpossibilities for older and elderly people.

Remote video monitoring system The feeling of greater security can re-lieve the burden on social relation-ships, especially on relatives.

Thanks to remote-controlled appli-ances, elderly people feel more se-cure. Their autonomy is increased aselderly people decide themselves ifthey need assistance and help canquickly be called in emergency situa-tions (e.g. after a fall).

EMITALL Surveillance has developedEasyEye Elderly monitoring system, asolution providing peace of mind forrelatives and autonomous living forseniors. Relatives, friends, caregivers,

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Figure 1: EasyEye system

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The Growing Burden of Elderly Careand the Paradigm Shift in HealthcareDeliveryWith an aging population, hyperten-sion and cardiovascular diseases(CVD) are major epidemics that sig-nificantly reduce quality of life andlife expectancy, afflicting more halfof all people older than 60. Hyperten-sion is the main cause of cardiovascu-lar disease which is today the #1 killerin the Western world. This is the

cause of an ever-growing burden onnational healthcare systems, which al-ready suffer from increasing costsand chronic shortage of resources. As healthcare providers and nationalgovernments have been searching forcheaper and more responsive ways ofdelivering services, this has broughtabout a significant growth in tele-health and homecare services thatenable people with chronic condi-tions to take greater control of theirown health, and to be treated athome rather than keeping them inthe hospital. The result is a significant

Innovative Mobile-Health Solutions Promise to Improve Elderly Care and Save CostsOfer Atzmon

The growth of the aging popula-tion increases the pressure on tradi-tional healthcare systems that suf-fer from increased costs and short-age of resources. Recent advancesin biosensor and wireless communi-cations technologies enable the de-sign of advanced mobile wearabletelehealth monitoring solutions forelderly care. These solutionspromise to improve the level ofcare and quality of life for the el-derly population, and to expeditethe trend of shifting healthcare de-livery from hospitals to the commu-

and other authorized parties can veri-fy if the situation of a monitored per-son is normal using remote devices inmobile environment (e.g. mobilephones, smart phones, etc.) and Inter-net environment (PC’s, laptops, PDA’s,etc.). The solution generates automat-ic detection of alarm situation (e.g.slip and fall detection) and automaticalert notification to remote devices si-multaneously in mobile and Internetenvironment.Main Functionalities offered by Easy-Eye from EMITALL Surveillance are (asshown in Fig. 1):

PULL SERVICES• Remote command of the home se-

curity systemUser can start or stop the systemany time using a remote device(mobile or Internet environment).

• The user can request any time animage of the scene under surveil-lanceMobile environment: MultimediaMessage Service (MMS)Internet environment: Internet im-age formats such as JPEG

• The user can request any time a

live video view of the scene undersurveillance Video streaming for 3G mobile en-vironment or Internet

• The user can request a view ofrecorded videoVideo streaming for 3G mobile en-vironment or Internet, andMMS for mobile environment

PUSH SERVICES• Automatic alert notification to re-

mote devices simultaneously inmobile and Internet environmentUser receives an alert notification(e.g. slip and fall detection) on re-mote device in mobile and Internetenvironment.User can verify the nature of thealarm, visualize the scene undersurveillance, and take appropriateaction if necessary

Intimacy and personal dignityMonitoring systems bring the ethicalquestion linked to electronic supervi-sion with regard to restriction of per-sonal dignity. In the USA for example,the long-term care industry has large-ly managed to block the use of

“granny cams,” video-surveillancecameras that families sometimes useto watch over elderly or disabled resi-dents in nursing homes or other facili-ties. There are no laws against suchcameras, but many nursing-homeowners, as well as employees and in-surers, discourage their use, on thegrounds that they are an invasion ofprivacy.

EMITALL Surveillance therefore hasdeveloped an advanced technologyproviding privacy protection in pri-vate or public elderly monitoring. Thesystem performs automatic scram-bling of regions corresponding topeople, and their goods, thus allow-ing to preserve their privacy. Fig. 2shows the result of the process.

EasyEye Elderly monitoring systemruns on basic home infrastructuresuch as a PC and webcams, and can beenhanced by other types of microsen-sors such as smoke, temperature andmotion detectors. This way microtech-nologies and vision technology to-gether can help elderly to stay safeand secure in their own home.

Contact:Virginie CarnielEMITALL Surveillance (CEO)Rue du Théâtre 51820 Montreux, SwitzerlandPhone: +41 79 476 14 86E-Mail: virginie.carniel@emitall.comwww.emitall.com

Figure 2: Scrambling / authorized unscrambling process

nity. Some of these new innova-tions are described in this article.

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paradigm shift in the healthcare in-dustry that is taking place on a globalscale. After centuries of deliveringhealth care in hospitals, healthcareproviders are now shifting towardstreating patients in their homes andcommunities.

Innovative Wireless Solutions HoldPromise for the FutureRecent advances in biosensor minia-turization and mobile wireless com-munications technologies hold thekey to this change and enable the in-troduction of highly usable mobile-health devices to enhance elderlycare.

Tadiran LifeCare, a new business unitof Israeli-based wireless communica-tions company Tadiran SpectralinkLtd. (www.tadspec.com/lifecare), re-cently unveiled a series of new andexciting products addressing thesetrends. These cellular-based wrist-wearable mobile monitoring devicesenable the transmission of real-timedata, such as medical information,environmental data, location or dis-tress alarm, to a remote monitoringcenter. All of these products incorpo-rate a built-in Wireless Module bySiemens Communications(www.siemens.com/communications),enabling users to be monitored con-tinuously and effortlessly from any-where, at anytime.

MDKeeper™ - "Mini Hospital" on the WristMDKeeper™ - which was recently un-veiled by Siemens Communicationsand Tadiran Spectralink Ltd. at the In-novations Day on CommunicationNetworks 2005 - is a portable “mini-hospital” which is designed to makelife easier for at-risk patients, chroni-

cally ill and people requiring nursingcare. The device lets patients monitortheir health and get help when thereis no doctor around. MDKeeper™ is worn on the wrist likea watch and enables continuousmonitoring of patients' vital signs,such as pulse rate, Electrocardiogram(ECG) and blood oxygen saturationlevel (SpO2). Patient at risk with car-diac or circulatory diseases, seniorsand people with chronic illnesses canenjoy constant monitoring and sup-port without having to visit their doc-tor. The information is stored, ana-lyzed and transmitted in real time, oras needed, by an embedded SiemensMC55 GSM/GPRS radio module, to aremote medical center, where it is re-ceived and further analyzed. A special medical monitoring station,called RemoteKeeper™, enables

medical professionals to view, ana-lyze and react on the information oralerts received from patients at re-mote locations. It also has a databaseand can be integrated with otherhospital information systems, allow-ing exchange of data for better in-formed medical decision-making.In addition, the device can sendemergency calls or place mobile callsto predefined people or call center.With its integrated cellular module,the device works almost everywherein the world on all GSM/GPRS net-works. Above all, MDKeeper™ is verylightweight and easy to operate, re-quiring very little intervention fromthe user. Additionally, it can providevalue added services, such as remind-ing the user when to take his/hermedication or go to his/her doctor'sappointment.

Figure 1: MDKeeper™MDKeeper™ enables elderly users to be continuously monitored for their health by remote medical professionals, trigger an alarm, talk to a doctor, re-ceive calls from anyone, and stay in touch with relatives or caregivers, from anywhere at anytime.

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First product tests are currently beingconducted in Israel and in Sweden(with Karolinska hospital and Telia-Sonera telecom operator), with re-sults expected later this year. MD-Keeper™ will be commercially avail-able early next year, with futuremodels to be introduced later, thatmay include additional innovations,such as blood pressure measure-ments; real-time video encounters;

and GPS location findingto enable the dispatchof specific medical emer-gency help when andwhere it is needed.

SKeeper™ - Cellular Dis-tress Alarm for those inNeedAnother new device in-tended for elderly orchronically ill, or evenfor children, is SKeep-er™, a wrist-wearablepersonal locator and cel-lular communicator withdistress alarm. SKeep-er™ is not a medical de-vice but is designed to

provide peace of mind to users, theirrelatives and their caregivers. It canbe used for example to assist peoplewith Alzheimer. SKeeper™ enablesusers to place cellular calls to pre-de-fined numbers (such as to relatives orfamily doctor), location finding via aWeb interface or another mobilephone, and a distress alarm in case ofneed, so help or medical advice is al-ways just a pushbutton away.

ConclusionsThe practical implementation of newwireless technologies offers elderlypeople and their caregivers enhancedquality of life, peace of mind and costsavings. Although healthcare systemsare quite conservative, many expertsbelieve that eventually the huge ben-efits of telehealth will overcome thebureaucratic and regulatory barriersand will become the foundation forfuture healthcare and social care sys-tems. With innovative mobile-healthsolutions such as MDKeeper™ andSKeeper™ coming into the marketsoon, it is likely that these benefitswill become a reality even faster thanmight be expected.

ContactOfer AtzmonBusiness Development ManagerTadiran LifeCare Div.Tadiran Spectralink Ltd.Kiryat Shmona 11015, IsraelPhone: +972 3 9229550Mobile: +972 52 2451771Fax: +972 3 9217714 E-Mail: oatzmon@tadspec.comwww.tadspec.com/lifecare

Figure 2: SKeeper™With SKeeper™ worn on their wrist or neck, elderly people cantrigger a distress alarm, talk to a doctor or a relative using speeddialling, receive calls from anyone, stay in touch and be located byrelatives or caregivers, from anywhere at anytime.

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E V E N T S

PCs, mobile devices and electronic de-vices that are being used in an everwidening range of applications in in-dustry, transportation and medicinehave one thing in common: They aresteadily shrinking in size – and withthem, the electronics components andassemblies that comprise them. Ac-cording to estimates from the "Inter-national Technology Roadmap forSemiconductors 2004," the width ofthe structures used in DRAMs will bereduced to 45 nanometers in fiveyears, and by 2016, they will dropdown to just 22 nanometers. Tech-nologies that are used for processessuch as those used to create ultra-thintransistor structures will be shown atProductronica 2005 from 15 through18 November in Munich, Germany.

Making the Move into the NanoscaleRangeThe exhibitor micro resist technologyof Berlin, Germany, for example, isforming the foundation for an inex-pensive alternative to lithographicprocesses with its thermoplastic poly-mers: The nanoimprint technologyshown at MicroNanoWorld promisesto enable the creation of structuresthat can even go below the scale of 10nanometers. So far, it has been possi-ble to print these structures on waferswith diameters of up to 20 centime-ters. As a manufacturer of reticules,graticules and microstructures, thecompany IMT Masken und TeilungenAG of Greifensee, Switzerland, has ad-ditional complex microlithographic so-lutions in its exhibition portfolio.Visions for the advancement of pro-duction technology down into the

nanoscale range are being made pos-sible by the Fraunhofer Institute forReliability and Microintegration (IZM)of Berlin, Germany. With what is re-ferred to as a "nanolawn," IZM ismaking it possible to take a look at aconnection technology of the future:Following the principle used withhook-and-loop fasteners, it could be-come possible in the future to connectelectronics components without ther-mal side effects.

Microproduction Technology in ActionAt MicroNanoWorld, the TechnicalUniversity of Munich's Institute forMachine Tools and Industrial Manage-ment (iwb) is demonstrating a telepre-sent microassembly plant. With thisplant, it will be possible to convenient-ly put together microsystems from aworkstation with a computer screen.This can be done by remote controlusing a force feedback control lever –which the trade public can try out in alive demo at the trade show. A demoplant for contactless wafer handlingon the basis of ultrasound as well as acomponent mounting systemequipped with air cushion grippers

that also works without mechanicalcontact represent additional innova-tions from the iwb for microscale han-dling.

As additional exhibitors for micropro-duction technology, participants in-clude such companies as Etchform pre-cision etching, Netherlands; HäckerAutomation of Schwarzhausen, Ger-many or QUASYS AG, Switzerland.Other participating companies includepiezosystem jena of Jena, Germany;Carl Zeiss SMT NanoTechnology, Ger-many; Trumpf Laser GmbH, Germany;or Tecan Components Ltd., UK.

MicroNanoWorld – The Unique Plat-form for a Growth SegmentA total of 115 companies will presentproducts related to MicroNanoWorld.Within this area the "MicroSystemsTechnology" User Forum will featureindustry presentations and livedemonstrations with a microproduc-tion line. The focus is on all areas ofmicrotechnical production includingthe packaging of integrated circuits,materials, production, componentmounting, assembly and handling sys-tems as well as measurement and test-ing systems. Here, the microproduc-tion technology being presented isnot only related to the manufacturingof electronics, but also to other fieldssuch as mold and die making; micro-processing and ultraprecision produc-tion; measurement, testing, and adap-tation technology as well as nanotech-nology/ nanoproduction.

Fields that are related from a technicalperspective, such as materials process-ing and back-end equipment for semi-conductor manufacturing, are repre-sented in the same hall. Thus, the en-tire hall will be dedicated to exhibit-ing microproduction.

Contact:Angela Präg, Deputy Head of Marketingand Communications New Technologies Messe München International, Munich,GermanyPhone: +49 89 949 20670 Fax: +49 89 949 97 20670 E-Mail: angela.praeg@messe-muenchen.de

Advanced Technology for Production in Miniature Formats at Productronica 2005Angela Präg

The entire hall B5 with more than160 exhibitors will be dedicated tomicro-manufacturing at Produc-tronica 2005. The companies willpresent solutions for micromachin-ing, ultra precision manufacturingand micro assembly. This makesProductronica the world's most im-portant trade show for this growthsegment. The MicroSystemsTech-nology User Forum and live demon-strations will round off the exhibitsin this sector.

Figure 1 / 2: BIT 100 / 600 Nanolawn:"Nanolawn," consisting of gold wire with a di-ameter of 100 / 600 nm (source: Fraunhofer IZM)

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