Apparatus for use in a fall detector or fall detection system, and a method of operating the same
First Claim
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1. A method of operating a fall detector, the method comprising:
- on detecting a fall event by a user of the fall detector, measuring at least one physiological characteristic of the user;
using the measurement of the at least one physiological characteristic to determine whether to expedite an alert that the user has fallen by;
determining if the measurement of the at least one physiological characteristic deviates from a normal value for the at least one physiological characteristic; and
automatically expediting, by a processor, an alert that the user has fallen by triggering an alert before an expiry of a revocation period if the at least one physiological characteristic deviates from a normal value for the at least one physiological characteristic.
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Abstract
There is provided a method of operating a fall detector, the method comprising, on detecting a fall event by a user of the fall detector, measuring at least one physiological characteristic of the user; and using the measurement of the at least one physiological characteristic to determine whether to expedite an alert that the user has fallen. An apparatus comprising a processor that is configured to perform the method described above is also provided.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of operating a fall detector, the method comprising:
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on detecting a fall event by a user of the fall detector, measuring at least one physiological characteristic of the user; using the measurement of the at least one physiological characteristic to determine whether to expedite an alert that the user has fallen by;
determining if the measurement of the at least one physiological characteristic deviates from a normal value for the at least one physiological characteristic; andautomatically expediting, by a processor, an alert that the user has fallen by triggering an alert before an expiry of a revocation period if the at least one physiological characteristic deviates from a normal value for the at least one physiological characteristic. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16)
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10. The method as claimed in 1, wherein expediting an alert comprises one or more of:
labeling a call or message as high priority such that queuing of the call or message at a recipient is expedited compared to a non-expedited alert, initiating an alert through a higher priority or higher bandwidth channel in a network than a non-expedited alert, and initiating an alert to an emergency service instead of, or in addition to, a call center associated with the fall detector.
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13. An apparatus, comprising:
a processing unit that is configured to; determine a measurement of at least one physiological characteristic of a user of a fall detector on detecting a fall event by the user; and use the measurement of the at least one physiological characteristic to determine whether to expedite an alert that the user has fallen by; determining if the measurement of the at least one physiological characteristic deviates from a normal value for the at least one physiological characteristic; expediting an alert that the user has fallen if the at least one physiological characteristic deviates from a normal value for the at least one physiological characteristic; and issuing a non-expedited alert that the user has fallen if the at least one physiological characteristic does not deviate from a normal value for the at least one physiological characteristic.
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17. A method, comprising:
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expediting, with a processor, issuance of an automatically generated alert that a user has fallen if at least one physiological characteristic, of the user measured after a fall event has been determined, deviates from a normal value for the at least one physiological characteristic; and issuing, with the processor, an automatically generated non-expedited alert that the user has fallen if the at least one physiological characteristic does not deviate from the normal value for the at least one physiological characteristic. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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18. The method as claimed in 17, further comprises:
initiating the non-expedited alert that the user has fallen if it is determined that the user has not got up within a predetermined time period after the detected fall event.
Specification