For people age 65 and older, falling is a leading cause of injury and death. Most fall-detection devices monitor a person’s posture or require a person to push a button to call for help. However, these devices must be worn at all times. A 2008 study showed 80 percent of elderly adults who owned call buttons didn’t use the device when they had a serious fall, largely because they hadn’t worn it at the time of the fall.
Now, University of Utah electrical engineers Brad Mager and Neal Patwari have constructed a fall-detection system using a two-level array of radio-frequency sensors placed around the perimeter of a room at two heights that correspond to someone standing or lying down. These sensors are similar to those used in home wireless networks. As each sensor in the array transmits to another, anyone standing — or falling — inside the network alters the path of signals sent between each pair of sensors.
Mager is presenting the new fall-detection system Tuesday, Sept. 10 in London at the 24th Annual Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications.
Driving simulators provide patients with engaging treatment sessions in a safe environment, including practicing realistic driving skills. Therapists can work with patients on treatment areas including cognitive, perceptual and physical skills.
