Testing of a long-term fall detection system incorporated into a custom vest for the elderly

Alan K. Bourke, Pepijn W.J. Van De Ven, Amy E. Chaya, Gearóid M. ÓLaighin, John Nelson

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

A fall detection system and algorithm, incorporated into a custom designed garment has been developed. The developed fall detection system uses a tri-axial accelerometer to detect impacts and monitor posture. This sensor is attached to a custom designed vest, designed to be worn by the elderly person under clothing. The fall detection algorithm was developed and incorporates both impact and posture detection capability. The vest and fall algorithm was tested by two teams of 5 elderly subjects who wore the sensor system in turn for 2 week each and were monitored for 8 hours a day. The system previously achieved sensitivity of >90% and a specificity of >99%, using young healthy subjects performing falls and normal activities of daily living (ADL). In this study, over 833 hours of monitoring was performed over the course of the four weeks from the elderly subjects, during normal daily activity. In this time no actual falls were recorded, however the system registered a total of the 42 fall-alerts however only 9 were received at the care taker site. A fall detection system incorporated into a custom designed garment has been developed which will help reduce the incidence of the long-lie, when falls occur in the elderly population. However further development is required to reduce the number of false-positives and improve the transmission of messages.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 30th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS'08
PublisherIEEE Computer Society
Pages2844-2847
Number of pages4
ISBN (Print)9781424418152
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2008
Event30th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS'08 - Vancouver, BC, Canada
Duration: 20 Aug 200825 Aug 2008

Publication series

NameProceedings of the 30th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS'08 - "Personalized Healthcare through Technology"

Conference

Conference30th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS'08
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityVancouver, BC
Period20/08/0825/08/08

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