Mitigating Injurious Falls in Older Adults Through Non-Injurious Fall and Gait Analysis From Floor Vibrations

Project Summary and Abstract Falls are the leading cause of death due to injuryThis simple motion is so common thatof community dwelling older adultsandof long term care facilities will experience a fall in the coming yearThe risk of falling substantially increases for those having Alzheimer s disease and related dementiasand those with Parkinson s diseaseThe financial burden is significant with fall related costs being $billion inwith costs expected to rise to $billion byCare giving institutionswho are often liable for the well being of their patientsbear a substantial portion of the costA fall can cost $per case for long term care facilities and can cost $per case for hospitalsCommercially available fall detection systems operate wearable pendant based devices that a patient presses after experiencing a fallNewer generations of these systems also incorporate accelerometers that are reportedly able to detect fallsThese systems are userdependentmeaning that a patient must be wearing the pendant for it to work which older adultsparticularly those with cognitive impairmentsoften do notFurthermorethe patient has to be cognizant to press the button to call for aid if the pendant does not activate during a fallThis is unlikely to occur as even when people are not cognitively impaired they will only activate the systemof the timeThere is a clear need for an automateduser independent fall detection systemBetter yet would be a system that can detect non injurious falls or changes in gaitboth of which are predictors of oncoming injurious fallsASSETin partnership with the University of South Carolinahave developed a patent pendingfloor vibration fall detection and gait analysis prototype system that can detect non injurious falls and collect gait information whilst being user independentThe innovation has the ability to firmly place control of liability back into the hands of care giving institutions much like what a fire alarm does for property damage from firesand potentially saving$billion in fall related costs with justmarket adoptionDuring Phase Ithe system will be tested and algorithms refined in a deployment of eight systems to dwellings whose residents are at high risk of fallingand compare the gait analysis capabilities to that of the GAITRite Mat and ADPM system with an expected n ofFocus groups of stakeholders in the use of the innovation will also be conductedThe work in Phase I are expected to result in a refined alpha version of the fall detection and gait analysis technologywith goals of andgtaccuracy in fall detection and comparable gait information results to that of existing standardsStrong results in Phase I will warrant further development in a larger deployment of the technology in Phase II to validate and finalize the technology in preparation for commercialization Project Narrative Falls are the leading cause of injury related death in adults above the age ofand care giving institutionse ghospitalsnursing homesbear a substantial portion of the cost due to liabilityYetthis simple motion can be avoided if minornon injurious falls and changes in gaitboth of which are predictors of future injurious fallsare recognized in time for preventative healthcare measures to be enactedASSETin partnership with the University of South Carolinais leveraging floor vibrations to detect non injurious falls and changes in gait as an affordable solution that alerts care giving institutions before an injurious fall occurs