Novel wearable technologies for assessing dynamic balance and risk of falling

用于评估动态平衡和跌倒风险的新型可穿戴技术

• 批准号: RGPIN-2016-04106
• 负责人: Rouhani, Hossein
• 金额: $ 1.75万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=760267
• 关键词: Novel; wearable; technologies; assessing; dynamic

Fall-related injuries are associated with considerable morbidity, premature long-term nursing care, and mortality in the elderly as well as individuals with neuromuscular control deficits. Therefore, fall prevention during daily life is of crucial interest for the Canadian healthcare system due to the economic burden of fall-related injuries and resultant impacts on the quality of life for at-risk individuals. The long-term objective of this research program is to develop wearable technologies for assessing the risk of falling in real-time during daily activities. These technologies would contribute in many ways to reducing the incidence of falling, such as 1) alerting caregivers to high-risk motions of the user prior to an incidence of falling, or 2) providing the user with feedback on how to prevent falls by alteration of the high-risk motion patterns (for example, that can be utilized within therapeutic training programs). To this end, two technical goals will be achieved in this research program: Goal A) Biomechanical mechanisms of loss-of-balance (prior to falling and after a postural perturbation) will be characterized through innovative dynamic balance analysis and measurement techniques. The risk of loss-of-balance will then be quantified based on individual-specific body motion patterns (such as gait parameters and, in general, body joint rotation patterns), neuromuscular strength, and anthropometric characteristics. Goal B) Novel wearable systems will be developed to assess the risk of loss-of-balance based on body motion patterns during daily activities. Typical wearable sensors, such as inertial sensors, will be utilized and novel signal processing techniques will be developed to measure the high-risk body motion patterns identified in Goal A. Goals A and B will be achieved for postural perturbations such as tripping and hitting a bump during walking and wheeling, respectively. These innovative modelling and assessment approaches will then be experimentally validated in a laboratory by creating safe conditions; this will assure the precision of the developed technologies in real-life conditions. In the future, the developed methodologies will be extended for assessing the risk of falling in a wide range of daily activities and major causes of falling. The practical outcome of this research program is a quantitative determination and assessment of individually-specific high-risk body motion patterns in daily activities, which increase the risk of falling. Additionally, this research will result in a better understanding of neuromuscular control mechanisms employed in the body to maintain postural balance and avoid falling. Highly qualified personnel will also be trained to develop their multi-disciplinary engineering skills, become future healthcare leaders, and contribute to the Canadian economy and healthcare system.

在老年人和有神经肌肉控制缺陷的个人中，与跌倒相关的伤害与相当大的发病率、过早的长期护理和死亡率有关。因此，日常生活中的跌倒预防对加拿大医疗系统至关重要，因为与跌倒相关的伤害造成的经济负担以及由此对高危个人生活质量的影响。这项研究计划的长期目标是开发可穿戴技术，用于在日常活动中实时评估跌倒的风险。这些技术将在许多方面有助于减少跌倒的发生率，例如1)在跌倒发生之前提醒护理人员注意用户的高危动作，或2)向用户提供关于如何通过改变高危动作模式(例如，可以在治疗培训计划中使用)来防止跌倒的反馈。为此，本研究计划将实现两个技术目标：目标A)将通过创新的动态平衡分析和测量技术来表征失去平衡(跌倒前和姿势扰动后)的生物力学机制。然后，将根据个体特定的身体运动模式(如步态参数和一般的身体关节旋转模式)、神经肌肉强度和人体测量特征来量化失去平衡的风险。目标B)将开发新的可穿戴系统，以根据日常活动中的身体运动模式评估失去平衡的风险。将利用典型的可穿戴传感器，如惯性传感器，并开发新的信号处理技术来测量目标A中确定的高风险身体运动模式，将分别实现针对姿势扰动的目标A和目标B，例如在行走和轮转过程中绊倒和撞到颠簸。这些创新的建模和评估方法随后将在实验室通过创造安全条件进行实验验证；这将确保所开发技术在现实生活条件下的精确度。今后，开发的方法将扩展到评估各种日常活动中的跌倒风险和跌倒的主要原因。这项研究计划的实际结果是对日常活动中增加跌倒风险的个人特定高危身体运动模式进行定量确定和评估。此外，这项研究将有助于更好地了解人体内维持姿势平衡和避免跌倒的神经肌肉控制机制。高素质的人员还将接受培训，以发展他们的多学科工程技能，成为未来的医疗领导者，并为加拿大经济和医疗体系做出贡献。