Wearable Fall Detection Using Floor Height Threshold
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current fall detection technologies, such as shock sensors and tilt switches, often generate false alarms and fail to detect slow collapses or incapacitations, and require frequent disabling for everyday activities, limiting their effectiveness in providing timely assistance to elderly individuals.
Innovation Solution
A wearable device that uses a combination of sensors, including altitude, GPS, RF, sonic, and ultrasonic sensors, to determine if it is within a threshold distance of the floor for an extended period, autonomously reporting a potential fall to a receiver/dialer system, which can initiate emergency communications without requiring the user to disable the device for daily activities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If shock sensors are used to detect falls, then violent falls can be detected, but false alarms are generated from bumping into objects and slow collapses are not detected
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple sensing modalities (shock sensor, tilt sensor, and floor height sensor) into an integrated fall detection system. This merging allows the system to cross-validate signals from different sensors, distinguishing true falls from false alarm sources like bumping into objects or slow collapses, thereby improving detection reliability while reducing false alarms.
2Reliability
If tilt switches are used to detect falls, then orientation-based falls can be detected, but the device must be disabled for everyday activities like lying down
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a floor height sensor as an intermediary measurement that provides context about the person's position relative to the floor. This intermediary data allows the system to distinguish between intentional lying down (where the person remains at a consistent height above the floor) and actual falls (where the person contacts the floor), eliminating the need to disable the device for everyday activities.
3Reliability
If multiple sensors are combined to improve detection accuracy, then fall detection reliability improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a multi-functional sensor system where each sensor serves multiple purposes: the shock sensor detects impacts, the tilt sensor monitors orientation, and the floor height sensor tracks position relative to the floor. This universal approach allows the system to detect various fall scenarios (violent falls, slow collapses, and falls after loss of consciousness) using a single integrated system, improving reliability without proportionally increasing complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for tracking a location of a resident includes a resident height detection device (e.g., a small pendant, bracelet or other wearable device) and a receiver/dialer. When the system detects that the resident height detection device has remained within a threshold distance of the floor (e.g., 8 to 16 inches) for more than a given period of time (e.g., 15 seconds), an alarm condition signal would then be sent to a receiver/dialer elsewhere in the residence which would then forward an emergency signal to a caretaker or to an emergency operator by way of the receiver/dialer. The resident height detection device may further include an override switch to turn off tracking when the resident intends to be on the floor for an extended period of time.