Intelligent video surveillance to detect mobility problems of older adults at home: from fall detection to fall prevention

根据世界卫生组织的数据，到2050年，30%的人口将是老年人（65岁及以上）。这一重大的人口结构变化产生了重大影响，因为许多事件可能影响到这些较脆弱人群的健康、安全和生活质量。例如，对老年人来说，最大的危险是意外福尔斯，85%的老年人因受伤住院是福尔斯的结果。需要制定和实施创新办法，以发现、预防和减轻这些影响。我们的总体长期目标是调查，开发和评估低成本的智能视频监控系统（IVS），以支持家中或老年人住房中的老年人，以提高他们的生活质量。这将在这5年的赠款，重点是预防意外福尔斯。除了跌倒检测之外，我们还将开发人工智能算法（例如深度学习），以检测老年人活动能力下降的早期迹象，例如接近跌倒事件（例如绊倒、滑倒、失足）或异常行走（例如不稳定、不寻常的步态速度），因为它们被认为是未来福尔斯的良好预测因素。使用IVS持续监测跌倒风险将有助于快速识别移动性问题，以便在跌倒发生及其负面后果（例如骨折和其他伤害，害怕跌倒）之前进行更有效的干预。这一制度还将提供经济优势，在家中支助老年人，比机构照料费用低得多。IVS将有利地补充其他辅助生活设备，如环境和可穿戴传感器，以造福老年人。

According to the World Health Organization, 30% of the population will be seniors (65 years and over) in 2050. This major demographic transformation has important repercussions since many events can affect the health, security and quality of life of these more vulnerable people. For instance, the greatest hazard for older adults is accidental falls, and 85% of injury-related hospitalizations for seniors are the result of falls. Innovative approaches need to be developed and implemented to detect, prevent and mitigate these impacts. Our general long-term objective is to investigate, develop and evaluate low-cost intelligent video surveillance systems (IVS) to support older adults at home or in senior housings for improving their quality of life. This will be pursued during this 5-year grant by focusing on the prevention of accidental falls. In addition to fall detection, we will develop artificial intelligence algorithms (e.g. deep learning) to detect early signs of mobility decline in older adults such as near-fall events (e.g. stumble, slip, misstep) or abnormal walking (e.g. unsteadiness, unusual gait speed) since they are considered as good predictors of future falls. Continuous monitoring of fall risk with the IVS will help to quickly identify mobility problems for more efficient intervention before a fall occurs with its negative consequences (e.g. fractures and other injuries, fear of falling). This system will also offer an economic advantage by supporting the older adult at home which is much less expensive than institutionalization. The IVS will advantageously complement other assisted living devices such as ambient and wearable sensors for the benefit of seniors.