AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Imagine having the security of knowing where a loved one who has Alzheimer's is at all times.
You might now be able to have that safety blanket.
California company GTX has come up with the first shoes that have a built in GPS system that can help keep track of them.
Alzheimer's affects more than 5.4 million people in the United States.
Now, family members will be able to find those wandering loved ones.
"I think it's a great idea to be able to track seniors with either Alzheimer's or even dementia, just in the last couple weeks we've seen signs on our highway of seniors that are missing and have left in cars and it's to me it's security for a family," said Amarillo Senior Citizens Center Executive Director, Jelaine Workman.
This technological innovation will serve as a valuable tool in keeping an unseen eye on an Alzheimer's patient.
"With an Alzheimer's patient a big thing that happens with them is, they do wander and whenever they get to that stage in their disease they can leave the house without you knowing pretty easily," said Jan Werner social Services Director, Gena Sams.
The shoes should help tremendously by cutting down on the number of calls made to police stations for people who go missing frequently.
"I think it will be an asset to the community as a whole so that the police department isn't called quite as often to be out looking for them."
One thing mentioned on the GTX web-site is the placement of the chip in the heel of the shoe.
"They're going to put on their shoes every day and this way they're not wearing something out of the ordinary or different so that might draw attention to them, and so they don't think that they're being watched or overly protected by their family."
The shoes will sell for around $300 a pair, and GTX has already shipped 3,000 pair to be sold through Aertex World-Wide.
The shoes will have two-way tracking so you can find loved ones on your computer, and there'll also be an app for that.
