SHB: Medium: Collaborative Research: Non-Intrusive Multi-Patient Fall-Risk Monitoring in Health Care Facilities

该项目汇集了四名研究人员，他们发现了一个弥合不同领域（步态分析，身体传感器网络，低功率RF电路和老年学）的机会，以解决预防跌倒的极其重要的医疗保健问题。他们的综合专业知识涉及以下科学目标：（1）探索节点上信号处理和低功率RF收发器以平衡无线体上惯性感测中的能量消耗和移动性分析保真度，（2）识别体上传感器位置的最小集合以提供高质量移动性分析，（3）确定适当的算法以在受控的实验室内外数据收集中识别容易跌倒的个体，以评估环境和活动的外部影响，（4）在一个自然的HFC生活环境中验证基于TEMPO的数据收集和处理算法。该项目为老年患者护理提供了一个新的范例，在跌倒事件发生之前针对高跌倒风险人群进行跌倒预防干预，保护患者的健康和生活质量，同时降低医疗保健成本。此外，上述基本科学目标适用于各种应用领域中的节能BSN的更广泛应用。教育和推广计划的重点是跨越技术和医疗保健之间的学科鸿沟，使用实践公开演示，本科实验室模块和多学科视频会议研究生研讨会课程，以吸引和培养能够解决未来几十年医疗保健行业面临的巨大挑战的领导者。

This project brings together four investigators who identified an opportunity to bridge their disparate fields (gait analysis, body sensor networks, low power RF circuits, and gerontology) in order to address an extremely important health care problem of fall prevention. Their combined expertise addresses the following scientific objectives: (1) explore on-node signal processing and low power RF transceivers to balance energy consumption and mobility analysis fidelity in wireless on-body inertial sensing, (2) identify the minimal set of on-body sensor locations to provide high-quality mobility analysis, (3) determine the appropriate algorithms to identify fall prone individuals in controlled in- and out-of-lab data collections to assess the external influences of context and activities, and (4) validate the TEMPO-based data collection and processing algorithms in a naturalistic HFC living environment.This project enables a new paradigm in elderly patient care to target fall prevention interventions to high fall risk individuals before fall incidents occur, preserving patient's health and quality of life while reducing health care costs. In addition, the above described fundamental scientific objectives apply in the broader application of energy efficient BSNs in a variety of application domains. The education and outreach plans focus on crossing the disciplinary divide between technology and health care, using hands-on public demonstrations, undergraduate laboratory modules, and multi-disciplinary videoconferencing graduate seminar courses to attract and develop leaders who can address the tremendous challenges that face the health care industry in the coming decades.