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Guardian Angel, through the use of an electronic bracelet worn by elderly patients, monitors heartbeat, blood pressure, sleeping pattern and footsteps.

“The people who really needed it were the carers, who worry because they cannot watch the patients 24 hours a day. But the patients themselves said they felt a sense of safety having someone watch over them,” Youla Karavidopoulou, a researcher at the Institute of Applied Bioscience, Greece, said.

Karavidopoulou received the data from the six-month trials of the application – a distance monitoring system for the elderly whom suffer from mild cognitive impairment, or early stage dementia.

In the following four months, she, alongside other participants in the programme, will analyse the data and questionnaires, and write up the final country report. In Life, the EU programme which was the context for the apps development, ends in January 2018.

Guardian Angel was developed through the co-operation of a number of institutes, including the Institute of Applied Bioscience, within the Center for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH).

The data collected by the electronic bracelet is sent via Bluetooth to a tablet, through which a doctor, carer or relative, can follow the evolution of his or her condition.

Vaggelis Kaimakamis is a pulmonologist and intensive care specialist at Papanikolaou hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece, as well as the co-ordinator for the In Life project for Greece.

Kaimakamis added: “If it records a measurement outside normal bounds, the bracelet sends a text message to the caregivers.”

The In Life project is a part of the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and focuses on the use of digital technology to aid elderly people living with various forms of dementia and other cognitive illnesses to lead more independent lives.