A smart fall and activity monitor for telecare applications

The design of a smart sensor to detect falls and monitor activity is discussed in terms of its integration within an intelligent telecare system. The proposed device measures the impacts associated with a fall and monitors the status of the faller to identify whether assistance is required. The device thus distinguishes between a fall-event (faller gets up of their own accord) and a fall-alarm (faller remains down) and transmits an appropriate message to a local intelligence unit (LIU) which is connected to a response network. Fall-event codes provide essential input data for algorithms to determine fall prediction indices (FPI), whilst fall-alarm codes instruct the LIU to automatically notify an appropriate care provider. The device also provides a measure of activity which may be utilised in the automatic calculation of the activities of daily living (ADL), for use by social workers and occupational therapists for continuously determining a person's ability to live independently in the community. It is hoped that such a device will promote an integrated approach to the management of falls by the elderly in the community.