Overview
Falls are common among wheelchair users and can result in injury, added challenges with daily activities, and admissions to hospitals and long-term care facilities. We are developing a system that will accurately detect falls from wheelchairs to automatically alert caregivers or emergency professionals who can quickly respond to help. This will be accomplished through measuring acceleration patterns to detect a fall from a wheelchair and developing, refining, and evaluating a prototype for a customizable fall detection system. We will develop and test the prototype with the long-term goal of improving fall outcomes and recovery for wheelchair users.
Project Status
Our team recently shared the first iteration of the fall detection device with community-dwelling adults for usability and feasibility testing. Quantitative data collected during its use and qualitative data following its use are informing necessary changes to the device’s design and algorithm. The development of a compatible smartphone application is underway to allow for user interface with the device. Community testing of the second iteration will begin shortly!
In the video below, a student does a controlled, backwards fall from a wheelchair in the laboratory setting as part of an effort to measure acceleration patterns of different types of falls among wheelchair users.
Check out our project poster presented at the 2022 TechSAge State of the Science. This poster depicts the series of events that occur when a fall experienced by an individual using a wheelchair or a scooter is detected using the newly developed fall detection system.
