New Technology May Reduce Risks for Fall Prone Seniors

We’ve written about the dangers that falls pose to seniors in many articles in the past, including one on “Avoiding and Dealing With Falls” and others on the dangerous side effects of some medications in this respect. People with poor eyesight and dementia are also more prone to falls, especially when they are moved from home, or a nursing home, to hospital. Ninety percent of hip fractures occur in people over fifty and eighty percent of them are women. We also wrote about a finding that “Sufficient Amounts of Vitamin D May Decrease the Incidence of Falls“. A European study¹ may be very helpful in finding a way to significantly reduce the risk of falls by frequently monitoring a patients’ strength, balance and other motor skills.

The study, lead by Lorenzo Chiari, a researcher and professor at the University of Bologna, Italy as part of the European Union SensAction-AAL project, uses a wearable, wireless device equipped with motion sensors to monitor people who are susceptible to falls. The information from the sensors can then be used to help patients perform rehabilitation exercises to improve their balance and mobility, evaluate the progression of a disorder or alert emergency services, doctors or relatives in the event of a fall.

Professor Chiari says – “Falls and other mobility problems have a major societal and economic impact. For the elderly, there is not only the risk of physical injury but also the psychological trauma falling causes and the long-term effects mobility problems have on quality of life. For healthcare systems, the costs of treating injuries caused by falls are only going to escalate as Europe’s population ages.” The same applies here in the United States, of course.

The SensAction-AAL team has developed computer software algorithms that are able to detect unrecovered falls with a high degree of accuracy and send a text or e-mail alert immediately. That makes it a potentially life-saving technology in the event that a user has suffered a heart attack, stroke or other serious health incident. The software is embedded in a compact device, worn around the waist, containing gyroscopes and accelerometers that measure motion and position. Wireless communications technology connects it to the user or doctor’s computer and, via an Internet connection, to a secure database and central monitoring computer.

Preventing falls is obviously better than detecting them after they’ve occurred, so the team also developed a system that provides doctors with long-term information about their patients’ mobility. The SensAction-AAL system can also assist people undergoing rehabilitation programmes by encouraging them to perform prescribed exercises. A patient’s movements can be translated into sounds and vibrations emitted via an audio headset, or small vibrating actuators on different parts of the user’s body. The patients can use this instantaneous feedback to learn how to improve their balance and posture by responding to changes in pitch, tone and intensity.

“One application involves using the device as an MP3 player so the user can listen to their favourite music while exercising. If they move incorrectly the music will become distorted or change volume or tempo,” Chiari says. Test users in trials conducted with sufferers of Parkinson’s disease at three different sites in the Netherlands, Germany and Israel, were overwhelmingly positive in their evaluation of the system. It showed how increased monitoring can help their self-confidence and, in turn, improve their quality of life.

The consortium has moved beyond pure research, with partners commercializing both the wearable monitor and the computer software. Let’s hope that somebody develops a link to the Nintendo Wii computer game system, which uses motion sensing technology in support of a whole range of sport and fitness oriented activities. It has the necessary wireless connectivity and Internet connection. We really enjoy working out with the games and exercises on Wii Sport and Wii Fit. You can find them and many others, including Wii Yoga for improving your balance, in our Videogames store.

 ¹  Source: ICT Results – 1/7/2010.