Canadian bed sensor displayed at White House conference

Tactex Controls Inc.'s patient monitoring bed sensor will be demonstrated at the Intel booth at the White House Conference on Aging this week in Washington, DC. The Tactex bed sensor is made from fiber-optic pressure sensing material first designed for Canadian Space Agency robotics.  First held in 1961, the White House Conference on Aging occurs once a decade to help guide public policy on seniors. This year's event, attended by 12000 delegates, will be held from December 11 to 13, 2005.  "The conference is a milestone for this patient activity monitoring device," said Terry Rachwalski, Chief Operating Officer for Tactex Controls Inc., the Victoria-based company that designed the sensor using its patented Kinotex(R) fiber-optic foam.  Intel's Digital Health Research and Innovation Team will be demonstrating the Tactex bed sensor as part of a larger suite of sensors that communicate wirelessly with a computing device to monitor medication, environment, socialization and medical conditions. Intel researchers envision that technologies such as these will assist senior citizens in staying healthy and continuing to live in their homes.  Current bed sensors are simplistic on-off devices that may be uncomfortable for patients, hard to position and plagued with false alarms, say caregivers. "Tactex has created a new class of patient activity monitor that can provide much more data at less cost," said Rachwalski. The market for patient monitoring systems in the US is expected to increase 7% annually to $8.2 billion, according to market research firm Freedonia Group.  The Tactex bed sensor is a modular, wireless device designed to reliably and unobtrusively monitor sleep and bed exit. The demonstration will show how an inexpensive smart sensor can monitor not only when a patient gets out of bed, but also the quality of sleep, as well as vital signs such as respiration and heart rate. In senior citizens, disturbed sleep may indicate a need to modify a care plan, medications, or provide assistance with activities of daily living. Tactex plans to begin field trials of its patient monitoring device in early 2006.   ABOUT TACTEX (WWW.TACTEX.COM)  Tactex Controls Inc. was established in 1998 to commercialize Kinotex(R), a pressure-sensing fiber-optic technology originally designed for the Canadian Space Agency as a sensory skin for robots. Tactex holds the worldwide rights to Kinotex(R) - an innovative and durable tactile pressure sensing platform that enables a new class of OEM products and intelligent systems that otherwise would not be technically feasible. The company is publicly traded on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V:TTX).   ABOUT KINOTEX(R)  Kinotex(R) is a pressure sensor made of plastic optical fibers embedded in foam. A short wavelength light emitting diode (LED) shines light through a transmit fiber to a termination point where the amount of light is detected by a receive fiber. The termination point of the send and receive fiber is called a taxel. The number of taxels or termination points for the send and receive fibers and the type of foam will determine how sensitive the Kinotex(R) is.  Pressure from any source exerted on the foam changes the amount of light backscattered into the taxel and the receive fiber. The receive fiber is a conduit that carries the light back to a light detector called a photodiode. The photodiode or an array of photodiodes detects the amount of light received. The light is converted to a voltage by the photodiode and provides a signal that is sent to a microprocessor. 

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  For further information: Terry Rachwalski, VP & COO, Tactex Controls  Inc., (Tel) (250) 480-1132, trachwalski@tactex.com, 240 Bay St., Victoria  British Columbia, Canada V9A 3K5; Shannon Love, Intel Global Communications  Group, (Tel) 602-284-7490, shannon.g.love@intel.com

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