Abstract
This works investigates the possibility of identifying the elders’ fall using accelerometers located on the ground. The work is divided in three parts: in the first we have designed a force platform to measure the forces generated during the fall and we have estimated the force generated by the impact of a subject with the floor using a crash test dummy. The effect of the dummy initial posture, of the presence of obstacles on the fall trajectory and of other parameters has been analysed as well. In the second part of the study we have analysed the vibration transmissibility in different dwellings. The final part of the research was focused on the estimation of the force starting from the vibration and from the impedance of the floor. Results have shown the possibility of identifying the elders’ falls in the majority of dwellings.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Tinetti, M.E., Speechley, M., Ginter, S.F.: Risk factors for falls among elderly persons living in the community. N. Engl. J. Med. 319(26), 1701–1707 (1988)
Siracuse, J.J., Odell, D.D., Gondek, S.P., Odom, S.R., Kasper, E.M., Hauser, C.J., Moorman, D.W.: Health care and socioeconomic impact of falls in the elderly. Am. J. Surg. 203(3), 335–338 (2012)
Najafi, B., Aminian, K., Paraschiv-Ionescu, A., Loew, F., Bula, C.J., Robert, P.: Ambulatory system for human motion analysis using a kinematic sensor: monitoring of daily physical activity in the elderly. IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. 50(6), 711–723 (2003). doi:10.1109/TBME.2003.812189
Salvà, A., Bolíbar, I., Pera, G., Arias, C.: Incidence and consequences of falls among elderly people living in the community. Med. Clin. 122(5), 172–176 (2004)
Sadigh, S., Reimers, A., Andersson, R., Laflamme, L.: Falls and fall-related injuries among the elderly: a survey of residential-care facilities in a Swedish municipality. J. Community Health 29(2), 129–140 (2004)
Bourke, A.K., Lyons, G.M.: A threshold-based fall-detection algorithm using a bi-axial gyroscope sensor. Med. Eng. Phys. 30(1), 84–90 (2008)
Wu, G.E., Xue, S.: Portable preimpact fall detector with inertial sensors. IEEE Trans. Neural Syst. Rehabil. Eng. 16(2), 178–183 (2008)
Tan, J.S., Eng, J.J., Robinovitch, S.N., Warnick, B.: Wrist impact velocities are smaller in forward falls than backward falls from standing. J. Biomech. 39(10), 1804–1811 (2006)
Troy, K.L., Grabiner, M.D.: Asymmetrical ground impact of the hands after a trip-induced fall: experimental kinematics and kinetics. Clin. Biomech. 22(10), 1088–1095 (2007)
DeGoede, K.M., Ashton-Miller, J.A.: Biomechanical simulations of forward fall arrests: effects of upper extremity arrest strategy, gender and aging-related declines in muscle strength. J. Biomech. 36(3), 413–420 (2003)
Kim, K.J., Ashton-Miller, J.A.: Biomechanics of fall arrest using the upper extremity: age differences. Clin. Biomech. 18(4), 311–318 (2003)
Gaul, L., Hurlebaus, S.: Identification of the impact location on a plate using wavelets. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 12(6), 783–795 (1998)
Meo, M., Zumpano, G., Piggott, M., Marengo, G.: Impact identification on a sandwich plate from wave propagation responses. Compos. Struct. 71(3–4), pp. 302–306, December 2005. ISSN 0263-8223
Choi, K., Chang, F.K.: Identification of impact force and location using distributed sensors. AIAA J. 34(1), 136–142 (1996)
Tarabini, M., Saggin, B., Scaccabarozzi, D., Moschioni, G.: The potential of micro-electro-mechanical accelerometers in human vibration measurements. J. Sound Vib. 331, 487–499 (2012)
Tarabini, M., Moschioni, G., Asensio, C., Bianchi, D., Saggin, B.: Unattended acoustic events classification at the vicinity of airports. Appl. Acoust. 84, 91–98 (2014)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering
About this paper
Cite this paper
Bocciolone, M., Gocanin, F., Scaccabarozzi, D., Saggin, B., Tarabini, M. (2017). Identification of Elders’ Fall Using the Floor Vibration. In: Perego, P., Andreoni, G., Rizzo, G. (eds) Wireless Mobile Communication and Healthcare. MobiHealth 2016. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 192. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58877-3_48
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58877-3_48
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-58876-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-58877-3
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)