Implementation of a monitoring system for fall detection in elderly healthcare

Falls are a major problem for elderly living independently. The World Health Organization reports that injuries due to falls are the third most common cause of chronic disability. We propose an automated monitoring system that identifies faces in a given area, collects data such as speed of movement, and triggers an alarm if these data suggest the person has fallen. Our system does not suffer the problems with the existing commercial devices such as social alarms, e.g., a wristwatch with a button that must be activated by the subject and wearable fall detectors comprising accelerometers and tilt sensors

Arduino Based Fall Detection and Alert System

Falling down is among the major causes of medical problem that are faced by the elderly people. Elderly people tend to injured themselves from falling down more often especially when they are living alone. When a falling event occurred, medical attention need to be provided immediately in order to reduce the risk of faller from getting severe injuries which may lead to death. Several technologies have been developed which some utilized webcams to monitor the activities of elderly people. However, the cost of operation and installation is expensive and only applicable for indoor environment. Some user also worried about their privacy issues. Current commercialized device required user to wear wireless emergency transmitter in form of pendant and wristband. This method will restrict the user movement and produce high false alarm due to frequent swinging and movement of the device. This project proposed a fall detection system which is cost effective and reliable to detect fall and alert nearby healthcare center or relatives for help and support. For fall detection, accelerometer and gyroscope was used to detect acceleration and body tilt angle of the faller respectively

Performance in simple and dual task activities of institutionalized older adults who perform and do not perform physical therapy

Was compared the performance in simple and dual task in institutionalized older adults who perform and do not perform Physical Therapy. The study involved 60 institutionalized older adults, 30 that performed Physical Therapy (PTG) and 30 that did not perform (NPTG). To assess the performance in simple and dual tasks activities, all participants performed the subsequent activities: one-foot stance test, walking in a corridor for 30 seconds, stepping up and down for 30 seconds, stand up and sit down on a chair for 30 seconds (simple task). After that, the older adults performed the same activities while holding a plastic cup with water (motor dual task), speaking the days of the week in opposite way (cognitive dual task), and holding a plastic cup with water while speaking the days of the week in opposite way (motor and cognitive dual task). The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with significance value p≤0,05. We observed differences between the walking tests and in the get up and sit down tests and, the greater the complexity of the task, the lower was the performance of the participants. In the stepping up and down activity, there was difference between groups where the PTG had a better performance compared with the NPTG group. We observed no differences between groups in the one-foot stance test. The dual task led to a reduction in functional performance in both groups: the institutionalized older adults that performed Physical Therapy and that did not perform.Comparou-se o desempenho nas atividades de simples e dupla tarefas em idosos institucionalizados que realizam e não realizam fisioterapia. Participaram 60 idosos institucionalizados, 30 que realizavam fisioterapia (GF) e 30 que não realizavam (GNF). Para a avaliação do desempenho nas atividades de simples e dupla tarefa, foram realizadas as seguintes atividades: ficar em apoio unipodal, caminhar ao longo de um corredor por 30 segundos, subir e descer de um step por 30 segundos, sentar e levantar de uma cadeira por 30 segundos (tarefa simples). Depois, os idosos realizaram as mesmas atividades segurando um copo de plástico com água (dupla tarefa motora), dizendo os dias da semana ao contrário (dupla tarefa cognitiva) e segurando um copo de água e dizendo os dias da semana ao contrário (dupla tarefa motora e cognitiva). Os dados foram analisados através de estatística descritiva e inferencial com valor de significância de p≤0,05. Foi observada diferença entre as tarefas na caminhada e também no sentar e levantar, sendo que quanto maior a complexidade da tarefa, menor foi o desempenho dos idosos. Já na atividade de subir e descer de um step, ocorreu diferença entre os grupos, onde o GF teve melhor desempenho que o GNF. Em relação ao apoio unipodal, não foi observada diferença entre os grupos e tarefas. A dupla tarefa conduziu a uma redução no desempenho funcional tanto de idosos institucionalizados que realizam fisioterapia quanto dos que não realizam.Se comparó el rendimiento en las actividades de simple y doble tarea en ancianos institucionalizados que realizan e no realizan fisioterapia. Participaron 60 ancianos institucionalizados, 30 que realizaban fisioterapia (GF) y 30 que no realizaban (GNF). Para evaluación del rendimiento en actividades de simple y doble tarea, fueron realizadas las seguientes actividades: quedar en apoyo unipodal, caminar a lo largo de un corredor por 30 segundos, subir y bajar un step por 30 segundos, sentarse y levantarse de una silla por 30 segundos (tarea simple). Después que los ancianos realizaron las mismas actividades sosteniendo un vaso de plástico con agua (doble tarea motora), diciendo los días de la semana al revés (doble tarea cognitiva) y sosteniendo un vaso de agua y diciendo los días de la semana al revés (doble tarea motora-cognitiva). Los datos fueron analizados por medio de estadística descriptiva y inferencial con valor de significación p≤0,05. Fue observada diferencia entre las tareas al caminar y también al sentarse y levantarse, considerándose que cuanto mayor la complejidad de la tarea, menor fue el rendimiento de los ancianos. Mientras en la actividad de subir y bajar un step, ocurrió diferencia entre los grupos, en que el GF tuvo mejor rendimiento que el GNF. En relación al apoyo unipodal, no fue observada diferencia entre grupos y tarefas. La doble tarea condujo a una reducción en el rendimiento funcional tanto de ancianos institucionalizados que realizan fisioterapia cuanto de los que no realizan

Lateral Inhibition in Accumulative Computation and Fuzzy Sets for Human Fall Pattern Recognition in Colour and Infrared Imagery

Fall detection is an emergent problem in pattern recognition. In this paper, a novel approach which enables to identify a type of a fall and reconstruct its characteristics is presented. The features detected include the position previous to a fall, the direction and velocity of a fall, and the postfall inactivity. Video sequences containing a possible fall are analysed image by image using the lateral inhibition in accumulative computation method. With this aim, the region of interest of human figures is examined in each image, and geometrical and kinematic characteristics for the sequence are calculated. The approach is valid in colour and in infrared video

Arduino Based Fall Detection and Alert System

Falling down is among the major causes of medical problem that are faced by the elderly people. Elderly people tend to injured themselves from falling down more often especially when they are living alone. When a falling event occurred, medical attention need to be provided immediately in order to reduce the risk of faller from getting severe injuries which may lead to death. Several technologies have been developed which some utilized webcams to monitor the activities of elderly people. However, the cost of operation and installation is expensive and only applicable for indoor environment. Some user also worried about their privacy issues. Current commercialized device required user to wear wireless emergency transmitter in form of pendant and wristband. This method will restrict the user movement and produce high false alarm due to frequent swinging and movement of the device. This project proposed a fall detection system which is cost effective and reliable to detect fall and alert nearby healthcare center or relatives for help and support. For fall detection, accelerometer and gyroscope was used to detect acceleration and body tilt angle of the faller respectively