Method and apparatus for a body position monitor and fall detector using radar

• US 7,916,066 B1
• Filed: 06/16/2009
• Issued: 03/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Osterweil Family Trust
• Original Assignee: Josef Osterweil
• Inventors: Osterweil, Josef
• Primary Examiner(s): Tarcza; Thomas H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bythrow; Peter
• Application Number:
  US12/456,328
• Time in Patent Office: 651 Days
• Field of Search: 342/22, 342/27, 342/28, 342/52, 342/57, 342/175, 340/573.1, 340/573.2, 340/573.3, 340/573.4, 340/573.5, 340/573.6, 340/573.7, 340/575, 382/115
• US Class Current: 342/28
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1102 Ballistocardiography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1117 Fall detection
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/113 occurring during breathing
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/56 for presence detection presence detection using near field arrangements G01V3/00, e.g. G01V3/08, G01V3/12; burglar, theft or intruder alarms with electrical actuation G08B13/22 - G08B13/26
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/886 for alarm systems alarms with electrical actuation G08B13/22
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/006 using shared front-end circuitry, e.g. antennas G01S13/765, G01S13/825 take precedence

Abstract

A radar fall detector system. The radar fall detector system includes transmitter and receiver antennae and a signal processor that processes a reflected signal. Doppler analysis of the reflected signal determines a subject'"'"'s activity and condition, and its distance to a floor.

Claims

1. A radar system for detecting that a subject has fallen, comprising:

a radio wave radar transmitter having one of a fixed antenna and a steerable antenna for transmitting radar signals penetrable through obstructions;

a radio wave radar receiver having one of a fixed antenna and a steerable antenna for receiving radar signals penetrable through obstructions;

a signal processor that analyzes random movements of the subject and the intensity of said random movements as a continuous function of the distance from a floor; and

wherein the signal processor determines a vertical profile of the intensity of said random movements and based on said vertical profile further determines the distance of the subject relative to the floor.

2. The radar fall detector system of claim 1, wherein the signal processor further determines the rate of vertical motion of the subject relative to the floor.

3. The radar fall detector system of claim 1, wherein the radar signals comprise at least one of Ultra Wideband, Spread Spectrum and modulated wave formats.

4. The radar fall detector system of claim 3, further comprising a radar cluster containing one radar transmitter and multiple radar receivers, such that at least a two dimensional location of the subject is resolved.

5. The radar fall detector system of claim 3, wherein the signal processor determines that a fall has occurred based on an analysis of the distribution of intensity of said random movements along a vertical axis relative to the floor.

6. The radar fall detector system of claim 3, wherein the determination that a fall has occurred is further determined by analysis of the spectral pattern over time of the activity/motion of the subject as determined by observing over time the vertical profile of the intensity of said random movements.

7. The radar fall detector system of claim 3, wherein the signal processor alerts an emergency responder via a communications link.

8. The radar fall detector system of claim 3, further comprising a receiver programmable signal gating, such that the distance over which the signal processor performs its analysis is limited to a desired maximum distance from the transmit and receive radar antennae.

9. The radar fall detector system of claim 5, where at least two receiver antennae are displaced in a proximate vertical orientation.

10. The radar fall detector system of claim 5, where at least one antennae is multiplexed such that fall detection related operations occur during some time periods and other time periods are utilized for housekeeping or alert related operations.

11. The radar fall detector system of claim 10, where said at least one antenna communicates with at least one antenna of a different fall detector system during said time periods utilized for housekeeping or alert related operations.

12. A radio wave radar fall monitoring system, comprising:

a single radio wave radar fall detector unit for monitoring a volume within a premises, wherein radio waves emitted by at least one radio wave transmitter contained within said unit and received by at least one radio wave receiver contained within said unit are penetrable through obstructions;

a communications link between said radio wave radar fall detector and an emergency responder;

means for signaling the emergency responder when a fall condition has been detected within the monitored volume;

a communicator to a subject within the monitored volume wherein a false alert condition is cleared in response to a communication exchange between the subject and an emergency responder;

a signal processor that analyzes random movements of the subject and the intensity of said random movements as a continuous function of the distance from a floor; and

wherein the signal processor determines a vertical profile of the intensity of said random movements and based on said vertical profile further determines the distance of the subject relative to the floor.

13. The radio wave radar fall monitoring system of claim 12, further including input ports for integration with auxiliary inputs from at least one of a voice recognition device, a voice distress analyzer, a personal emergency response system, and an image analyzer.

14. The radio wave radar fall monitoring system of claim 12, where the fall monitoring system mitigates a false alarm by a canned voice dialogue with the monitored subject before contacting the emergency responder.

15. The radio wave radar fall monitoring system of claim 12, wherein at least one transmitter and at least one receiver are multiplexed in order to implement said communications link between said radio wave radar fall monitoring system and an emergency responder during time periods when said transmitter and receiver are not used for monitoring said volume within said premises.

16. A radar system for detecting that a subject has fallen within a premises, comprising:

a radio wave radar transmitter having one of a fixed antenna and a steerable antenna for transmitting radar signals penetrable through obstructions;

a radio wave radar receiver having one of a fixed antenna and a steerable antenna for receiving radar signals penetrable through obstructions in order to monitor a subject within the premises, and comprising at least one of Ultra Wideband, Spread Spectrum and modulated wave formats; and

a signal processor that analyzes random movements of the subject and the intensity of said random movements as a continuous function of the distance from a floor, wherein the signal processor determines a vertical profile of the intensity of said random movements over time and based on said vertical profile further determines the distance of the subject from the floor and the rate of vertical motion of the subject relative to the floor.

17. The radar system of claim 16 wherein said transmitter and receiver are multiplexed in order to implement a communications link between said radar system and an emergency responder during time periods when said transmitter and receiver are not used for monitoring said subject within the premises.