Detecting stumbles with a single accelerometer.
Falls are a common problem in the elderly population, and their prediction has been a major interest for the medical field. The relationship between stumbles and falls has not been very well understood yet. A critical requirement in advancing the study of this relationship is the realization of a realistic and effective stumble detection system. In this paper, we present a system for the detection of stumbles during walking. Our system consists of a single low cost triaxial accelerometer that may be worn by patients and is convenient for a wide range of subjects. We formulate the problem as an anomaly detection and we validate our system with a large data set collected from 9 subjects. The data set contains a total of 100 stumbles and 45 minutes of walking. We compare 7 different placements for the accelerometer, and show that our system achieves a 99% detection rate, with a 0.2% false alarm rate using an accelerometer worn on the chest.
Electrical Engineering Department, University of California, Los Angeles, USA. nabilhc@ucla.edu
Nabil
N
Hajj Chehade
Pinar
P
Ozisik
James
J
Gomez
Fabio
F
Ramos
Greg
G
Pottie
D061725:Accelerometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006801:Humans; D015233:Models, Statistical; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D009132:Muscles / Q000503:physiopathology; D012306:Risk; D016138:Walking