IoT Based Music Therapy
IoT-based music therapy is an innovative concept that can assist patients with various diseases by remotely delivering music-based treatments. Studies have demonstrated its efficacy in relieving pain, stress and anxiety associated with cancer treatment, pre/post surgery care, insomnia issues, childbirth complications, autism/disabilities issues and end-of-life care.
However, maintaining this service after discharge from a medical facility remains an obstacle. Patients typically receive this therapy as an add-on during their hospital stay but finding ways to sustain it after release from the facility becomes challenging due to physical therapists’ need to be present and cost-related barriers for most people.
This article proposes an architecture to integrate Body Area Networks (BANs) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) with music therapy in order to automate delivery of this service. The system consists of BAN sensors for sensing various body parameters and communicating them remotely via Android App on the patient’s handheld device; additionally, an ANN model predicts which type of music should play over that individual’s music player using Music Analytics data such as type and duration played, which helps iteratively improve automation throughout this process.
This prototype uses BAN sensor data to measure pulse rate, blood pressure and breath rate as well as music file selection algorithm based on ANN’s prediction of mood and type of music that best matches patient anxiety level. Furthermore, the app features a media player which plays selected music files from patient’s library over handheld device whenever required to reduce anxiety or enhance feelings of well-being.
The proposed prototype aims to support patients suffering from various illnesses by remotely providing music-based therapy. It can be deployed at any remote health facility around the world, cutting costs and time spent conducting physical sessions while giving patients more autonomy in managing their conditions, thus relieving pressure on healthcare systems and insurance providers.