Method and apparatus for body position monitor and fall detect ion using radar

• US 7,567,200 B1
• Filed: 04/26/2007
• Issued: 07/28/2009
• 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 M
• Application Number:
  US11/790,512
• Time in Patent Office: 824 Days
• Field of Search: 342/27, 342/28, 342/52, 342/57, 342/175, 342/104, 342/105, 342/107, 342/109, 342/450, 342/451, 340/573.1, 340/573.2, 340/573.3, 340/573.4, 340/573.5, 340/573.7, 382/103, 382/115, 382/154, 600/22, 600/407, 600/418, 600/424, 600/425, 600/430, 600/453, 600/300
• US Class Current: 342/28
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1117 Fall detection
• 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 13/878 Combination of several spaced transmitters or receivers of known location for determining the position of a transponder or a reflector G01S13/874 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/886 for alarm systems alarms with electrical actuation G08B13/22
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/043 detecting an emergency event, e.g. a fall
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0469 Presence detectors to detect unsafe condition, e.g. infrared sensor, microphone G08B21/0476 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/22 responsive to presence or absence of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/001 Alarm cancelling procedures or alarm forwarding decisions, e.g. based on absence of alarm confirmation

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 moving body segment 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; and

a signal processor that analyzes motion of a rhythmically moving body segment, wherein the signal processor determines a distance to the rhythmically moving body segment and the rate of vertical motion of the rhythmically moving body segment as referenced from the radar transmit and receive antennae, and further determines the distance and the rate of motion of the rhythmically moving body segment relative to a floor.

2. The radar fall detector system of claim 1, wherein the moving body segment is at least one of a lung, a heart, and a chest.

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 monitored rhythmically moving body segment is resolved.

5. The radar fall detector system of claim 3, wherein the signal processor determines that a fall has occurred based on the distance from the floor to a subject chest.

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

7. The radar fall detector system of claim 3, wherein said signal processor further detects a position of a physically vibrating device with selective characteristics.

8. The radar fall detector system of claim 7, wherein said signal processor detects a vibration frequency of said physically vibrating device for use as one of markers, system control devices, and calibration devices.

9. The radar fall detector system of claim 7, wherein a record of locations of said physically vibrating device is stored in a calibration database for future referral to create a virtual map of a premises.

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

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

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the rate of rhythmic motion of the rhythmically moving body segment is filtered for a specific frequency band.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the rate of rhythmic motion of the rhythmically moving body segment is analyzed using adaptive signal processing according to the specific category of body part comprising the rhythmically moving body segment in order to adjust the filter characteristics to a subject'"'"'s activity level.

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; and

a signal processor that analyzes motion of a moving body segment of a subject, wherein the signal processor determines a distance to the moving body segment and the rate of vertical motion of the moving body segment as referenced from the radar transmit and receive antennae, and further determines the presence of a fall condition as a result of determining the distance and the rate of motion of the moving body segment relative to a floor.

13. The 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 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 radar fall monitoring system of claim 12, further including a location determiner that determines a location of the subject within the monitored volume and tracks the subject'"'"'s entry and exit to and from the monitored volume.

16. The radar fall monitoring system of claim 12 further comprising a database used for reference during an analysis processes performed by said radar fall monitoring system, said database including at least one of a virtual mapping of the premises, reference static radar signatures, and subject signatures of physical characteristics.

17. A method for determining a position of a rhythmically moving body segment of a monitored subject, using a radio wave radar system, comprising:

measuring a time delay of a signal path from a radio wave radar transmitter and a radio wave radar receiver to the rhythmically moving body segment;

defining a locus curve of the signal path;

solving the locus curve for the location of the monitored rhythmically moving body segment; and

determining a fall condition in accordance with a selected protocol.

18. The method of claim 17, where at least one of an algorithmic and a heuristic method is applied for determining monitored body location.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising determining a rate of movement of the monitored rhythmically moving body segment.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the fall condition is processed by a false alarm mitigation procedure and subsequent alert level elevation until the fall condition is acknowledged by an emergency responder.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the rhythmically moving body segment is at least one of a lung, a heart, and a chest.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the locus curve is solved for a two dimensional location of the monitored rhythmically moving body segment, and wherein azimuth information is not resolved.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the locus curve is solved for a three dimensional location of the monitored rhythmically moving body segment.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein the rate of rhythmic motion of the rhythmically moving body segment is filtered for a specific frequency band.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the rate of rhythmic motion of the rhythmically moving body segment is analyzed using adaptive signal processing according to the specific category of body part comprising the rhythmically moving body segment in order to adjust the filter characteristics to a subject'"'"'s activity level.