Non-obtrusive Gait & Fall Monitoring

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。该设备是被动的，通过感知地板振动获得步态数据，以及一个微创的无线设备，因此不需要在特殊表面行走或被摄像头观察。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来验证该设备的性能 公共卫生相关性：据估计，20%-40%的社区老年人每年至少跌倒一次2，养老院居民的这一比例还会增加。与跌倒相关的伤害是需要医疗干预的最常见原因之一，也是40%的养老院入院人数的一个促成因素。下降给国民经济带来的代价是巨大的。1994年，因跌倒而造成的总费用估计为202亿美元。预计到2020年，这一数字将攀升至322亿美元。减少跌倒次数的一个建议是为机构居民创建跌倒风险评估，其中一个重要组成部分是步态评估。鉴于在第一阶段工作期间取得的成果，地板传感器系统似乎能够满足一个明确的需求，目前没有其他解决方案承诺同样容易实施，而且市场潜力很大。

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 and obtains gait data from sensing floor vibrations as well as a minimally invasive wireless device, precluding the need to walk on special surfaces or be observed by cameras. 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 PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: An estimated 20% - 40% of community-dwelling elderly fall at least once a year 2 and this rate increases for nursing home residents. Fall-related injuries are among the most common reasons requiring medical intervention and are a contributing factor in 40% of nursing home admissions. The cost of falls to the national economy is significant. In 1994 the total cost due to falls was estimated to be $20.2 billion. This number is expected to climb to $32.2 billion by 2020. One suggestion for reducing the number of falls has been the creation of a fall risk assessment for institutional residents, an important component of which is gait assessment. In view of the results obtained during the Phase I effort, it appears that the floor sensor system may be able to answer a well defined need for which there is presently no other solution that promises to be as readily implementable and for which the market potential is significant.