LOSS-OF-BALANCE AND FALL DETECTION SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A loss-of-balance detection system, comprising:
- two foot-force sensors, each supported under a respective foot of a wearer;
at least one sensor module containing a kinematics measurement sensor coupled to a portion of the body of a wearer; and
a processor operative to analyze information received from each of the sensors and determine whether the wearer is experiencing a loss of balance or has experienced a fall based upon one of both of the following;
a) one or both feet of the wearer have ceased making ground contact for a predetermined period of time in accordance with information received from the foot-force sensors; and
b) a portion of the wearer'"'"'s body is experiencing a movement or is in a position contrary to normal activity in accordance with information received from the kinematics measurement sensor.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A wireless monitoring/assessment system identifies and records selected basic activities of daily living, loss of balance, and falls of at-risk elderly using a minimum set of sensors. A wearable system collects data over an extended period from sensors mounted under each shoe/slipper inner sole, and three kinetic measurement sensors, one mounted on the subject'"'"'s chest, and the other two on each thigh. The resulting data can be processed off line to determine if a loss of balance or fall has occurred and identify the basic activity that the subject was performing when it happened. The two inner sole foot pressure sensors provide data on the loading of the plantar aspect of each fore- and rear foot. Each kinematics measurement sensor module provides 3-axis acceleration and angular rate data from the torso and each thigh. All data is sampled at a high rate using an analog to digital converter, time stamped, and then stored in memory.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A loss-of-balance detection system, comprising:
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two foot-force sensors, each supported under a respective foot of a wearer; at least one sensor module containing a kinematics measurement sensor coupled to a portion of the body of a wearer; and a processor operative to analyze information received from each of the sensors and determine whether the wearer is experiencing a loss of balance or has experienced a fall based upon one of both of the following; a) one or both feet of the wearer have ceased making ground contact for a predetermined period of time in accordance with information received from the foot-force sensors; and b) a portion of the wearer'"'"'s body is experiencing a movement or is in a position contrary to normal activity in accordance with information received from the kinematics measurement sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A loss-of-balance detection system, comprising:
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two foot-force sensors, each supported under a respective foot of a wearer; three sensor modules, each including a 3-axis accelerometer and a 3-axis gyroscope, with one sensor module being torso-mounted to determine if the wearer is falling, bending, twisting, or turning, and one sensor module being coupled to each leg of a wearer to differentiate sitting from standing or to provide information representative of pedaling; a base station is wireless communication with each sensor module; and a processor in communication with base station to analyze information received from each of the sensors and determine whether the wearer is experiencing a loss of balance or has experienced a fall based upon one of both of the following; c) one or both feet of the wearer have ceased making ground contact for a predetermined period of time in accordance with information received from the foot-force sensors; and d) the angle, angular rate and acceleration of the torso and each leg about three orthogonal axes to determine if the wearer'"'"'s body is experiencing a movement or is in a position contrary to normal activity in accordance with information received from each accelerometer and gyroscope. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 18)
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Specification