Apparatus for identifying falls and activities of daily living

• US 8,974,403 B2
• Filed: 07/23/2014
• Issued: 03/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Chiao Tung University (Government of The Republic of China)
• Original Assignee: National Chiao Tung University (Government of The Republic of China)
• Inventors: Yang, Bing-Shiang, Wang, Chih-Chung, Liao, Sain-Ting
• Primary Examiner(s): Hindenburg, Max
• Assistant Examiner(s): Foreman, Jonathan M
• Application Number:
  US14/338,418
• Publication Number:
  US 20140330173A1
• Time in Patent Office: 230 Days
• Field of Search: 600587-595
• US Class Current: 600/595
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0002 Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network A61B5/07 takes precedence; transmission systems for measured values G08C; transmission H04B; transmission of digital information H04L; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1113 Local tracking of patients, e.g. in a hospital or private home
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1117 Fall detection
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/389 Electromyography [EMG]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7275 Determining trends in physiological measurement data; Predicting development of a medical condition based on physiological measurements, e.g. determining a risk factor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/746 Alarms related to a physiological condition, e.g. details of setting alarm thresholds or avoiding false alarms alarms per se G08B

Abstract

The present invention provides and apparatus for distinguishing falls from activities of daily living (ADLs). First, the human movements and muscle activities would be obtained by an electromyography measuring unit and/or an inertia measuring unit to record ADLs, and falls would be distinguished from ADLs to trigger the protecting devices in time to prevent or decrease injury. In addition, the apparatus would be preset for different operational conditions to adapt different users by a setting unit to increase accuracy. Finally, the moving distance and the direction of the user would be obtained by the electromyography measuring unit and/or the inertia measuring unit to obtain the location thereof in an interior space.

Claims

1. A fall positioning device, comprising:

a sensor unit obtaining a sensor signal;

a recognition unit processing the sensor signal to determine whether a fall is going to happen;

a positioning unit obtaining a location of a controlled user in a space via processing an arrangement of the space and a distance having been moved and a moving direction of the controlled user in the space;

a computing unit computing the sensor signal to obtain the distance having been moved and the moving direction and provide a computed result to the recognition unit for determining whether the fall is going to happen;

a warning unit providing an information corresponding to the fall of the controlled user in the space; and

an output unit transmitting the information to an institution to render a medical suggestion.

2. The fall positioning device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information comprises a predicted injury corresponding to the location when the fall happens, and the arrangement is a compartment configuration and furnishings of an interior space.

3. The fall positioning device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the sensor unit is a physiological sensor unit.