title: Direction sensitive fall detection using a triaxial accelerometer and a barometric pressure sensor.
abstract: Falling is one of the leading causes of serious health decline or injury-related deaths in the elderly. For survivors of a fall, the resulting health expenses can be a devastating burden, largely because of the long recovery time and potential comorbidities that ensue. The detection of a fall is, therefore, important in care of the elderly for decreasing the reaction time by the care-givers especially for those in care who are particularly frail or living alone. Recent advances in motion-sensor technology have enabled wearable sensors to be used efficiently for pervasive care of the elderly. In addition to fall detection, it is also important to determine the direction of a fall, which could help in the location of joint weakness or post-fall fracture. This work uses a waist-worn sensor, encompassing a 3D accelerometer and a barometric pressure sensor, for reliable fall detection and the determination of the direction of a fall. Also assessed is an efficient analysis framework suitable for on-node implementation using a low-power micro-controller that involves both feature extraction and fall detection. A detailed laboratory analysis is presented validating the practical application of the system.
authors.affiliation: Hamlyn Centre, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK. fmtolkieh@imperial.ac.uk
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tolkiehn
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Atallah
authors.forename: Benny
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: Guang-Zhong
authors.initials: GZ
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D056044:Actigraphy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006801:Humans; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation*; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014160:Transducers, Pressure