LIFT SUPPORT/FALLS INTERVENTION SYSTEM FOR THE ELDERLY

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A Phase I SBIR program is proposed to determine the technical feasibility and necessary requirements to develop a ceiling-mounted, battery-powered, mobile patient life-support and fall-intervention system. This active system will preserve the inherent safety features of the passive Fall- SafeTM falls intervention system already being developed by TRDC under National Institute of Aging sponsorship. Although directed towards elderly populations, this new system would also have significant application to rehabilitation populations. During its Phase I and II programs, the passive Fall-SafeTM system has demonstrated its capability for reducing the energy for impact and potential injury during accidental falls by over 95%. This new Phase I effort would be a natural extension of the earlier program; i.e., the provision of an electrically-powered patient lift- support and falls intervention system that would also utilize the inherent safety features of the current Fall-SafeTM system. During the proposed Phase I program, a prototype system will be designed, fabricated and tested to determine its performance characteristics. It is anticipated that this active, mobile Fall-SafeTM device will utilize the same overhead track and support garments and will preserve the inherent fail-safe features that were developed earlier for the passive device. If successful, the development of this active system would extend the application of the Fall- SafeTM system to the elderly patient's rooms and daily care of rehabilitation populations, provide for safer patient lifting and care, reduce the exposure for nursing attendant injury, and prepare for systems use in residential settings.