Floor Monitor for Gait Assessment and Falls Detection

描述(申请人提供)：老年人跌倒是需要医疗干预的最常见原因之一，也是40%的疗养院入院人数的一个促成因素，是一个主要的健康问题。一些研究已经确定了可量化的步态标志，这些标志似乎可以区分老年“跌倒者”和不跌倒的人。这些研究依赖于步态实验室获得的数据。将步态评估能力和跌倒检测扩展到家庭中，可以提供有关步态弱点演变的有价值的事前信息，这些信息反过来可以用于评估应对措施的效率。目前的移动步态分析技术是不够的，因为它们依赖于顺应性或太具侵入性。 提出了一种新的步态评估和跌倒监测器的研制方案。该设备是无源的，可以无线传输采集的数据，并通过感知地板振动获得步态数据，从而不需要佩戴设备、在特殊表面行走或被摄像头观察。它能够高保真地检测不同的步态模式，并能够区分坠落的物体和模拟的坠落。这项研究的主要目的是通过与弗吉尼亚大学健康系统物理医学和康复步态实验室公认的步态评估技术进行比较，验证该设备的性能。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Falls among the elderly, one of the most common reasons requiring medical intervention and a contributing factor in 40% of nursing home admissions, are a major health problem. Several studies have identified quantifiable gait markers that appear to distinguish between elderly "fallers" and non-fallers. These studies have relied on data acquired in gait-laboratories. Extending gait assessment capability, and falls detection, into the home could provide valuable before-the-fact information on gait weakness evolution, which in turn could be used to assess the efficiency of counter measures. Current mobile gait analysis techniques are insufficient because they rely on compliance or are too intrusive. The development of a new gait assessment and falls monitor is proposed. The device is passive, can transmit acquired data wirelessly, and obtains gait data from sensing floor vibrations, precluding the need to wear a device, walk on special surfaces or be observed by cameras. Its ability to detect different gait modes with high fidelity as well as differentiate between falling objects and simulated falls has been demonstrated. This study's principal aim is to validate the device's performance through a comparison with accepted gait assessment techniques at the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Gait lab at the University of Virginia Health System.