Wearable Technology for Evaluation of Risk of Falls

Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2021 Nov:2021:7108-7111. doi: 10.1109/EMBC46164.2021.9629940.

Abstract

One's risk of fall can be quantified in terms of variability in one's gait, reflecting a loss of automatic rhythm of one's gait. In gait analysis, variability is commonly understood in terms of the fluctuation in the kinematic, kinetic, spatio-temporal, or physiological information. Here, we have focused on the estimation of knee joint angle (kinematic variable) synchronized with some of the kinetic and spatio-temporal gait parameters while an individual walked overground. Our system consisted of a pair of shoes with instrumented insoles and knee flexion/extension recorder unit having bend sensors. In addition, we have used the Coefficient of Variation for estimating the variability in the knee flexion/extension angle while walking overground as an indicator of the risk of fall. A study with healthy individuals (young and old) walking overground on pathways having 00 and 1800 turning angles indicated the feasibility of our wearable system to compute the variability in knee flexion/extension angle as an indicator of the risk of fall.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Accidental Falls* / prevention & control
  • Biomechanical Phenomena
  • Gait
  • Humans
  • Walking
  • Wearable Electronic Devices*