Skin-contact sensor for automatic fall detection.
This paper describes an adhesive sensor system worn on the skin that automatically detects human falls. The sensor, which consists of a tri-axial accelerometer, a microcon-troller and a Bluetooth Low Energy transceiver, can be worn anywhere on a subject's torso and in any orientation. In order to distinguish easily between falls and activities of daily living (ADL), a possible fall is detected only if an impact is detected and if the subject is horizontal shortly afterwards. As an additional criterion to reduce false positives, a fall is confirmed if the user activity level several seconds after a possible fall is below a threshold. Intentional falls onto a gymnastics mat were performed by 10 volunteers (total of 297 falls); ADL were performed by 15 elderly volunteers (total of 315 ADL). The fall detection algorithm provided a sensitivity of 99% and a specificity of 100%.
Vital Connect, Inc., 2105 S. Bascom Ave., Ste. 316, Campbell, CA 95008, USA. rnarasimhan@vitalconnect.com
Ravi
R
Narasimhan
D061725:Accelerometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D000058:Accidental Falls; D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D002138:Calibration; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012867:Skin / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult