Engineering strategies for the prevention of falls and fall-related injuries

在加拿大，跌倒是造成伤害的头号原因，对老年人造成的伤害尤其严重，超过90%的髋部骨折和腕部骨折是由跌倒引起的。拟议的研究计划将产生改进的技术，用于诊断老年人跌倒和跌倒伤害的风险，以及在跌倒事件中增强平衡和减少受伤风险的新设备。关于预防跌倒，我们将开发新的测量方法，这些方法足够复杂，可以识别导致平衡障碍的生理机制，但又足够简单，可以在医生办公室使用。我们还将研究新型鞋类增强姿势稳定性的潜力，它提供了增强的支撑基础，并增加了站立时的脚踝扭矩。在防止跌倒时受伤方面，我们将开发能够提供类似或更好的力衰减的软壳髋关节保护器，而硬壳保护器的用户依从性差。我们还将设计用于养老院和医院的低刚度防摔地板，这种地板可以减弱冲击力，但不会太软而损害平衡并导致摔倒。最后，我们将开发可穿戴传感器和微处理器，用于检测日常生活中的滑倒、绊倒和跌倒（以及运动项目和环境变化对姿势稳定性的影响），并用于测量跌倒时的冲击力。拟议的研究包括对高素质人员的培训，并有针对性地努力将结果传播到生物力学研究界以外的医疗保健行业和专业人员。这项为期五年的基础和应用研究计划将为预防老年人受伤和提高生活质量提供有价值的新工具。

Falls are the number-one cause of injury in Canada, and exert a particularly heavy toll on the elderly, as the cause of over 90% of hip fractures and wrist fractures. The proposed research program will generate improved techniques for diagnosing risk for falls and fall injuries among the elderly, and novel devices for enhancing balance and reducing risk for injury in the event of a fall. With regard to fall prevention, we will develop new measures that are complex enough to identify the physiological mechanisms that are causing balance impairment, yet simple enough for use in a doctor's office. We will also examine the potential for enhancing postural stability with novel footwear, which provides an enhanced base of support and increased ankle torque during stance. With regard to preventing injuries in the event of a fall, we will develop soft-shell hip protectors that are capable of providing similar or better force attenuation that rigid-shell protectors, which suffer from poor user compliance. We will also design low-stiffness, fall-proof flooring for use in nursing homes and hospitals, which attenuates impact force but is not so soft that it impairs balance and causes falls. Finally, we will develop wearable sensors and microprocessors for detecting slips, trips, and falls in daily life (and the influence on postural stability of exercise programs and environmental modifications), and for measuring impact forces during falls. The proposed research incorporates training of highly qualified personnel, and targeted efforts to disseminate results beyond the biomechanics research community to the health care industry and professionals. This five year program of basic and applied research will provide valuable new tools for preventing injuries and enhancing quality of life in elderly individuals.