DocumentCode :
139656
Title :
Pilot evaluation of an unobtrusive system to detect falls at nighttime
Author :
Redmond, Stephen J. ; Zhaonan Zhang ; Narayanan, Michael R. ; Lovell, Nigel H.
Author_Institution :
Grad. Sch. of Biomed. Eng., UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
fYear :
2014
fDate :
26-30 Aug. 2014
Firstpage :
1756
Lastpage :
1759
Abstract :
Research shows that older people (aged 65 years and over) suffer many unintentional indoor falls which often lead to severe injuries. As a result of an increasingly aged population in developed countries, a sizable portion of healthcare funding is consumed in the treatment of fall-related injuries and associated long-term care. Detecting falls soon after they occur can be potentially live saving. In addition, early treatment of fall-related injuries can reduce treatment costs by minimizing health deterioration resulting from long periods spent incapacitated on the floor after a fall (a scenario known as a `long lie´) and decreasing the number of hospital bed-days required. In this study, a previously proposed unobtrusive nighttime fall detection system based on wireless passive infrared sensors and furniture load sensors is evaluated in a pilot study involving three older subjects, monitored for a combined total of 174 days. No falls occurred during the study. The system reported a false alarm rate of 0.53 falls per day, which is comparable with similar unobtrusive and wearable sensor fall detection solutions.
Keywords :
body sensor networks; geriatrics; health care; infrared detectors; mechanoception; medical signal detection; patient care; patient treatment; associated long-term care; early treatment; fall-related injury treatment; false alarm rate; furniture load sensors; health deterioration; healthcare funding; hospital bed-days; older people; pilot evaluation; unintentional indoor falls; unobtrusive nighttime fall detection system; unobtrusive sensor fall detection solution; unobtrusive system; wearable sensor fall detection solution; wireless passive infrared sensors; Aging; Algorithm design and analysis; Conference proceedings; Injuries; Sensor systems; Testing;
fLanguage :
English
Publisher :
ieee
Conference_Titel :
Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), 2014 36th Annual International Conference of the IEEE
Conference_Location :
Chicago, IL
ISSN :
1557-170X
Type :
conf
DOI :
10.1109/EMBC.2014.6943948
Filename :
6943948
Link To Document :
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