ABSTRACT
Falls are a significant cause of injury and accidental death among persons over the age of 65. Gait velocity is one of the parameters which have been correlated to the risk of falling. We aim to build a system which monitors gait in seniors and reports any changes to caregivers, who can then perform a clinical assessment and perform corrective and preventative actions to reduce the likelihood of falls. In this paper, we deploy a Doppler radar-based gait measurement system into the apartments of thirteen seniors. In scripted walks, we show the system measures gait velocity with a mean error of 14.5% compared to the time recorded by a clinician. With a calibration factor, the mean error is reduced to 10.5%. The radar is a promising sensing technology for gait velocity in a day-to-day senior living environment.
Subject(s)
Accidental Falls/prevention & control , Gait , Monitoring, Physiologic/instrumentation , Monitoring, Physiologic/methods , Radar/instrumentation , Walking , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Calibration , False Positive Reactions , Female , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
Seniors want to live more independent lifestyles. This comes with some risks including dwindling health and major injuries due to falling. A factor that has been studied and seen to have a correlation to fall risk is change in gait speed. Our goal is to create a passive system that monitors the gait of elderly so that assessments can be given by caregivers if gait changes do occur. This paper will cover a method of using pulse-Doppler radar to detect when walks occur. In unscripted living environments, we are able to detect valid walks. The system does miss walks during the day, but when walks are detected, they are actually valid walks 91.8% of the time using a large data base of radar signals captured in living environments.
