A fall detection system for elderly patients

Abstract

This invention discloses an elderly patient bed-leaving monitoring and alarm system based on a flexible pressure patch, belonging to the field of medical and health monitoring technology. This system includes at least one flexible pressure angle patch configured to be detachably attached to the patient's thigh. The flexible pressure angle patch comprises a flexible substrate, a MEMS tilt sensor, a flexible pressure sensor, a low-power microcontroller, a first wireless communication module, and a power supply module. By using a flexible substrate material to create the flexible pressure angle patch, this invention allows for comfortable fit to the curve of the thigh, without affecting the patient's daily activities, and is suitable for long-term wear. The MEMS tilt sensor collects the angle between the thigh and the supporting surface in real time, setting 80 to 100° as a high-risk posture threshold, resulting in highly targeted detection and significantly reducing the false alarm rate.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of communication equipment room technology, specifically relating to an alarm system for monitoring and activating elderly patients leaving the bed based on a flexible pressure patch. Background Technology

[0002] In current elderly patient care, abnormal posture (such as accidental getting out of bed or sitting up) is a major contributing factor to safety risks such as falls and pressure sores. Traditional manual monitoring suffers from drawbacks such as discontinuous monitoring, delayed response, and high labor costs. Existing technologies such as wearable accelerometers, cameras, and mattress pressure sensors generally suffer from discomfort, poor privacy, high false alarm rates, and complex wiring, making it difficult to meet the needs of long-term, comfortable, and accurate clinical and home monitoring. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a posture monitoring and alarm system that is comfortable to wear, provides accurate monitoring, is wirelessly linked, and has a low false alarm rate. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and provide an alarm system for monitoring and waking elderly patients from bed based on a flexible pressure patch.

[0004] The technical solution adopted to solve the above technical problems is: an elderly patient bed exit monitoring and alarm system based on a flexible pressure patch, including at least one flexible pressure angle patch, which is configured to be detachably attached to the patient's thigh. The flexible pressure angle patch includes a flexible substrate, a MEMS tilt sensor, a flexible pressure sensor, a low-power microcontroller, a first wireless communication module, and a power supply module; The flexible pressure angle patch is wirelessly connected to a main alarm system. The main alarm system includes a second wireless communication module and a main control chip. The main control chip is electrically connected to an audible and visual alarm unit, which is used to provide alarm prompts.

[0005] The above technical solution separates the flexible pressure angle patch from the main alarm system. The patch is only responsible for data acquisition and uploading, while the main alarm system is responsible for core logic judgment and alarm output. This distributed architecture reduces the power consumption and complexity of the patch, allowing it to be made thinner and lighter with longer battery life. At the same time, the main alarm system can process data from multiple patches simultaneously, facilitating expansion to multi-bed centralized monitoring scenarios.

[0006] Furthermore, the flexible substrate is used to conform to the curved surface of the human thigh, the MEMS tilt sensor is used to collect real-time angle data between the thigh and the support surface, the flexible pressure sensor is used to collect real-time adhesion pressure data between the flexible pressure angle patch and the skin, the low-power microcontroller is electrically connected to the MEMS tilt sensor and the flexible pressure sensor respectively, the low-power controller is used to process the real-time angle data and adhesion pressure data, the first wireless communication module is electrically connected to the low-power microcontroller and is used to wirelessly transmit the processed data, and the power supply module supplies power to the flexible pressure angle patch.

[0007] Through the above technical solution, data is initially processed at the patch end and then wirelessly transmitted to the main alarm system, avoiding the power consumption overhead caused by complex calculations at the patch end. The main control chip, as the system's decision-making core, can analyze angle and pressure data in real time, providing a reliable basis for subsequent dual-logic judgments.

[0008] Furthermore, the second wireless communication module is used to receive data sent by the first wireless communication module. The main control chip is electrically connected to the second wireless communication module. The main control chip is used to parse the received real-time angle data and bonding pressure data and perform logical judgments.

[0009] Through the above technical solution, the second wireless communication module can reliably receive data from the patch, and the main control chip can perform real-time analysis and logical judgment on the angle data and bonding pressure data, providing a decision-making basis for subsequent alarm triggering, status maintenance and manual control, thus realizing intelligent monitoring of the system.

[0010] Furthermore, the main control chip is configured to: when the bonding pressure data is greater than or equal to a preset bonding threshold, determine that the flexible pressure angle patch is in an effective bonding state, and further determine whether the real-time angle data is within the preset angle threshold range; if the real-time angle data is within the preset angle threshold range, trigger the audible and visual alarm unit to execute an alarm, and maintain the alarm state until the received real-time angle data leaves the preset angle threshold range and a manual pause command is received; when the bonding pressure data is less than the preset bonding threshold, determine that the flexible pressure angle patch is in a detached and invalid bonding state, and output a low-priority prompt message.

[0011] Through the above technical solution, the main control chip first verifies whether the patch is effectively attached through a dual judgment mechanism, and then judges whether the angle is within the high-risk threshold range, which effectively avoids invalid alarms or false alarms caused by patch detachment or displacement; at the same time, the design of the alarm maintenance mechanism and manual pause command conforms to clinical nursing operation habits, improving the reliability and practicality of the system.

[0012] Furthermore, the preset angle threshold range is 80° to 100°, and this angle is defined as the angle between the patient's thigh and the bed surface and the ground support surface.

[0013] The reason for setting 80 to 100° as the high-risk position threshold through the above technical solution is that clinical statistics show that when patients sit up from a lying position or prepare to get out of bed, the angle between their thighs and the bed surface falls exactly within this range. Compared with the traditional method of detecting the bed-leaning switch, this angle threshold setting can effectively distinguish between normal turning over and high-risk sitting up / getting out of bed behavior, and significantly reduce the false alarm rate.

[0014] Furthermore, the main control chip is also configured to automatically deactivate the alarm and restore the system to a silent monitoring state when the real-time angle data is less than 80° and greater than 100°.

[0015] The above technical solution effectively prevents false alarms from a single sensor. The alarm hold mechanism ensures that the alarm remains active until the patient's position is restored to safety, avoiding repeated alarm activation and deactivation due to brief angle fluctuations. Simultaneously, nursing staff can manually pause the alarm, making it easy to mute the alert sound while treating the patient, aligning with actual clinical workflows.

[0016] Furthermore, the audible and visual alarm unit includes a buzzer and a warning LED light. When the main control chip triggers the alarm, it controls the buzzer to emit an audible alarm and controls the warning LED light to flash at a predetermined frequency.

[0017] Through the above technical solution, the sound and light alarm unit provides a strong and intuitive audio-visual prompt by emitting a sound alarm through a buzzer and combining it with the flashing of LED lights. This ensures that nursing staff can be aware of the patient's high-risk position and intervene in a timely manner, even in noisy environments or when visibility is poor.

[0018] Furthermore, the first wireless communication module and the second wireless communication module communicate wirelessly using the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol. The flexible pressure angle patch periodically uploads the real-time angle data and bonding pressure data at intervals not exceeding 200 milliseconds. The main alarm system also includes a human-machine interaction unit, which includes an alarm silencing button, a device pairing button, and a parameter calibration button, used to realize manual alarm pause, pairing and binding with the flexible pressure angle patch, and sensor zero-point calibration functions.

[0019] Through the above technical solutions, the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol ensures the stability of data transmission and the low-power operation of the patch, while the periodic upload of 200 milliseconds ensures the real-time monitoring. The alarm silencing, device pairing, and parameter calibration buttons in the human-machine interaction unit provide users with a convenient local operation interface, improving the ease of use and flexibility of the system.

[0020] Furthermore, the main alarm system is powered by mains electricity and has a built-in backup power supply. The backup power supply automatically switches to power when the main alarm system loses power, ensuring continuous operation of the system. The second wireless communication module of the main alarm system supports simultaneous pairing and binding with multiple flexible pressure angle patches to achieve centralized monitoring of multiple monitoring points and multiple patients. The flexible base of the flexible pressure angle patch is made of medical-grade flexible silicone and polyimide film material. The power supply module is a miniature rechargeable lithium battery, and the flexible pressure angle patch is also equipped with a wireless charging coil for non-contact charging of the miniature rechargeable lithium battery. The support surface is the bed surface where the patient is located, and the real-time angle data is the angle between the axis of the patient's thigh and the horizontal line of the support surface.

[0021] Through the above technical solutions, the main alarm system adopts dual power supply of mains power and backup power to ensure uninterrupted monitoring in the event of a power outage; it supports the simultaneous binding of multiple flexible pressure angle patches to meet the centralized management needs of multiple beds and multiple patients; the patches adopt medical-grade flexible materials, micro rechargeable lithium batteries and wireless charging design, which further improves wearing comfort, battery life and hygiene safety, and is suitable for long-term continuous use.

[0022] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: (1) The present invention uses a flexible base material to make a flexible pressure angle patch, which can comfortably fit the curved surface of the thigh, does not affect the patient's daily activities, and is suitable for long-term wear; the angle between the thigh and the support surface is collected in real time by a MEMS tilt sensor, and 80 to 100° is set as the high-risk position threshold, which is highly targeted and significantly reduces the false alarm rate; at the same time, the flexible pressure sensor is combined to judge the patch fitting status, avoiding invalid alarms caused by patch falling off, and greatly improving the system reliability; (2) The present invention uses wireless communication, which does not require complicated wiring, and can be used immediately after application. The main alarm system can bind multiple patches at the same time to meet the centralized monitoring needs of multiple beds in hospitals, nursing homes and homes; the alarm has a continuous holding mechanism until the position is restored and manually paused, which is in line with clinical operating habits; the main alarm system is equipped with a backup power supply, which can still work normally in the event of a power outage, ensuring that the monitoring is not interrupted, effectively preventing fall accidents and reducing the burden on nursing staff. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 This is a system framework diagram of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0024] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative and not intended to limit the invention.

[0025] like Figure 1 As shown in this embodiment, an elderly patient leaving the bed monitoring alarm system based on a flexible pressure patch includes at least one flexible pressure angle patch. The flexible pressure angle patch is configured to be detachably attached to the patient's thigh. In actual use, the patch can be attached to one or both thighs simultaneously as needed to improve monitoring redundancy and reliability. The flexible pressure angle patch includes a flexible substrate, a MEMS tilt sensor, a flexible pressure sensor, a low-power microcontroller, a first wireless communication module, and a power supply module. The flexible substrate is made of medical-grade flexible silicone material and is in the shape of a thin sheet with a thickness of no more than 3mm. It can perfectly fit the front or outer curved surface of the thigh. Patients can hardly feel it when wearing it and it does not affect daily activities such as turning over, sitting up, and using the toilet. The flexible pressure angle patch is wirelessly connected to the main alarm system, which includes a second wireless communication module and a main control chip. The main control chip is electrically connected to an audible and visual alarm unit, which is used to provide alarm prompts. The main alarm system can be placed independently in the nurse station, nursing staff on-duty room, or family room to achieve remote centralized monitoring.

[0026] The second wireless communication module is used to receive data sent by the first wireless communication module. The main control chip is electrically connected to the second wireless communication module and is used to parse the received real-time angle data and bonding pressure data and perform logical judgments.

[0027] The preset angle threshold range is 80° to 100°, defined as the angle between the patient's thigh and the bed surface and ground support surface. The audible and visual alarm unit includes a buzzer and an alarm LED. When the main control chip triggers the alarm, it controls the buzzer to emit an audible alarm and controls the alarm LED to flash at a predetermined frequency. The main alarm system is powered by mains electricity and has a built-in backup power supply. The backup power supply automatically switches to power when the main alarm system loses power, ensuring continuous operation. The second wireless communication module of the main alarm system supports simultaneous pairing and binding with multiple flexible pressure angle patches to achieve centralized monitoring of multiple monitoring points and multiple patients. The patch's flexible substrate is made of medical-grade flexible silicone and polyimide film materials; the power supply module is a miniature rechargeable lithium battery; the flexible pressure angle patch also has a wireless charging coil for non-contact charging of the miniature rechargeable lithium battery; the support surface is the bed surface at the patient's location; the real-time angle data is the angle between the patient's thigh axis and the horizontal line of the support surface; 80 to 100° is set as the high-risk position threshold because clinical statistics show that when a patient sits up from a lying position or prepares to get out of bed, the angle between the thigh and the bed surface falls exactly within this range. Compared with the traditional bed-leaning switch detection method, this angle threshold setting can effectively reduce the false alarm rate.

[0028] A flexible substrate is used to conform to the curvature of the human thigh. A MEMS tilt sensor is used to collect real-time angle data between the thigh and the support surface. A flexible pressure sensor is used to collect real-time adhesion pressure data between the flexible pressure angle patch and the skin. A low-power microcontroller is electrically connected to both the MEMS tilt sensor and the flexible pressure sensor. The low-power controller processes the real-time angle data and adhesion pressure data. A first wireless communication module is electrically connected to the low-power microcontroller and is used to wirelessly transmit the processed data. A power supply module supplies power to the flexible pressure angle patch. The flexible pressure sensor serves as an auxiliary judgment method, capable of detecting whether the patch is truly adhered to the skin surface. When the patch accidentally falls off, shifts, or is not properly adhered, the pressure data will fall below a preset threshold. In this case, the main alarm system will only output a low-priority warning.

[0029] The main control chip is configured to: determine that the flexible pressure angle patch is in an effective bonding state when the bonding pressure data is greater than or equal to a preset bonding threshold, and further determine whether the real-time angle data is within the preset angle threshold range; if the real-time angle data is within the preset angle threshold range, trigger the audible and visual alarm unit to execute the alarm and maintain the alarm state until the received real-time angle data leaves the preset angle threshold range and a manual pause command is received; when the bonding pressure data is less than the preset bonding threshold, determine that the flexible pressure angle patch is in a detached and ineffective bonding state, and output a low-priority prompt message. The main control chip is also configured to: automatically deactivate the alarm and restore the system to a silent monitoring state when the real-time angle data is less than 80° and greater than 100°. A high-risk alarm is triggered only when both conditions are met simultaneously, effectively preventing false judgments from a single sensor. The alarm holding mechanism ensures that the alarm remains active until the patient's position is restored to safety, avoiding repeated alarm activation and deactivation due to short-term angle fluctuations; at the same time, nursing staff can manually pause the alarm, making it convenient to turn off the prompt sound when handling patients, which conforms to actual clinical workflows.

[0030] The first wireless communication module and the second wireless communication module communicate wirelessly using the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol. The flexible pressure angle patch periodically uploads real-time angle data and bonding pressure data at intervals not exceeding 200 milliseconds. The main alarm system also includes a human-machine interface unit, which includes an alarm mute button, a device pairing button, and a parameter calibration button. These buttons are used to manually pause the alarm, pair and bind with the flexible pressure angle patch, and perform sensor zero-point calibration. By using the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol, the operating current of the patch is controlled at the microamp level while ensuring real-time data transmission. Combined with a miniature rechargeable lithium battery, it can achieve continuous power supply for several weeks or even months.

[0031] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A monitoring and alarm system for elderly patients leaving the bed based on a flexible pressure patch, characterized in that, Includes at least one flexible pressure angle patch, the flexible pressure angle patch being configured to be detachably attached to the patient's thigh area; The flexible pressure angle patch includes a flexible substrate, a MEMS tilt sensor, a flexible pressure sensor, a low-power microcontroller, a first wireless communication module, and a power supply module; The flexible pressure angle patch is wirelessly connected to a main alarm system. The main alarm system includes a second wireless communication module and a main control chip. The main control chip is electrically connected to an audible and visual alarm unit, which is used to provide alarm prompts.

2. The elderly patient bed-leaving monitoring and alarm system based on a flexible pressure patch according to claim 1, characterized in that, The flexible substrate is used to conform to the curved surface of the human thigh. The MEMS tilt sensor is used to collect real-time angle data between the thigh and the support surface. The flexible pressure sensor is used to collect real-time adhesion pressure data between the flexible pressure angle patch and the skin. The low-power microcontroller is electrically connected to the MEMS tilt sensor and the flexible pressure sensor respectively. The low-power controller is used to process the real-time angle data and adhesion pressure data. The first wireless communication module is electrically connected to the low-power microcontroller and is used to wirelessly transmit the processed data. The power supply module supplies power to the flexible pressure angle patch.

3. The elderly patient bed-leaving monitoring and alarm system based on a flexible pressure patch according to claim 1, characterized in that, The second wireless communication module is used to receive data sent by the first wireless communication module. The main control chip is electrically connected to the second wireless communication module. The main control chip is used to parse the received real-time angle data and bonding pressure data and perform logical judgments.

4. The elderly patient bed-leaving monitoring and alarm system based on a flexible pressure patch according to claim 1, characterized in that, The main control chip is configured to: when the bonding pressure data is greater than or equal to a preset bonding threshold, determine that the flexible pressure angle patch is in an effective bonding state, and further determine whether the real-time angle data is within the preset angle threshold range; if the real-time angle data is within the preset angle threshold range, trigger the audible and visual alarm unit to execute an alarm, and maintain the alarm state until the received real-time angle data leaves the preset angle threshold range and a manual pause command is received; when the bonding pressure data is less than the preset bonding threshold, determine that the flexible pressure angle patch is in a detached and invalid bonding state, and output a low-priority prompt message.

5. The elderly patient bed-leaving monitoring and alarm system based on a flexible pressure patch according to claim 1, characterized in that, The preset angle threshold range is 80° to 100°, and the angle is defined as the angle between the patient's thigh and the bed surface and the ground support surface.

6. The elderly patient bed-leaving monitoring and alarm system based on a flexible pressure patch according to claim 1, characterized in that, The main control chip is also configured to automatically deactivate the alarm and restore the system to silent monitoring state when the real-time angle data is less than 80° and greater than 100°.

7. The elderly patient bed-leaving monitoring and alarm system based on a flexible pressure patch according to claim 1, characterized in that, The audible and visual alarm unit includes a buzzer and a warning LED. When the main control chip triggers the alarm, it controls the buzzer to emit an audible alarm and controls the warning LED to flash at a predetermined frequency.

8. The elderly patient bed-leaving monitoring and alarm system based on a flexible pressure patch according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first wireless communication module and the second wireless communication module communicate wirelessly using the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol. The flexible pressure angle patch periodically uploads the real-time angle data and bonding pressure data at intervals not exceeding 200 milliseconds. The main alarm system also includes a human-machine interaction unit, which includes an alarm silencing button, a device pairing button, and a parameter calibration button, used to manually pause the alarm, pair and bind with the flexible pressure angle patch, and perform sensor zero-point calibration.

9. A monitoring and alarm system for elderly patients leaving the bed based on a flexible pressure patch according to claim 1, characterized in that, The main alarm system is powered by mains electricity and has a built-in backup power supply. The backup power supply automatically switches to power when the main alarm system loses power, ensuring continuous operation. The second wireless communication module of the main alarm system supports simultaneous pairing and binding with multiple flexible pressure angle patches to achieve centralized monitoring of multiple monitoring points and multiple patients. The flexible base of the flexible pressure angle patch is made of medical-grade flexible silicone and polyimide film material. The power supply module is a miniature rechargeable lithium battery. The flexible pressure angle patch is also equipped with a wireless charging coil for non-contact charging of the miniature rechargeable lithium battery. The support surface is the bed surface where the patient is located, and the real-time angle data is the angle between the axis of the patient's thigh and the horizontal line of the support surface.

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