Integrating Emerging Technologies for Comprehensive Healthcare Solutions: Early Insights from the BRILLIANCE Project

This paper presents the initial findings of the BRILLIANCE project, aimed at advancing the development of smart, non-invasive systems for monitoring the health of frail and chronic patients through the innovative use of established and emerging technologies. This multidisciplinary initiative enhances patient autonomy and safety while reducing caregiver workload by integrating various technologies. The project includes BLE technologies for continuous monitoring of vital signs and motion-related parameters (physical effort), and an indoor localization system combining ultrasound signals and RFID technology for accurate patient location and movement monitoring. It also develops body-compliant wearable sensing system, based on piezoelectric material for the detection of tongue movements and gestures in order to enable speech-related pathology diagnostics. Moreover, it introduces haptic feedback technologies for neurological rehabilitation and monitoring, through self-exercise, of patients with neurological diseases or trauma that cause loss or impairment of the sense of touch. In its early phases, the project team successfully implemented multifunctional sensor nodes, tested the first prototype of high-precision RFID-ultrasound locators, investigated the feasibility of the proposed wearable sensing system, and developed a novel technology to fabricate a touchscreen with tactile feedback showing promising results. These developments are important steps towards using these technologies to enhance patient care and quality of life.