Automatic Fall Detection and Alert System: A Compact GPS/GSM Enabled Unit Based on Accelerometry
Silva, H.
; Silva,
; Gamboa, H.
Automatic Fall Detection and Alert System: A Compact GPS/GSM Enabled Unit Based on Accelerometry, Proc INSTICC International Conf. on Biomedical Electronics and Devices - Biodevices, Funchal, Portugal, Vol. 2, pp. 186 - 189, January, 2008.
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Abstract
Accidental falls are among one of the main causes of death and disability on elderly people. This stands both as a healthcare problem, in the sense that, upon falling, if individuals are not assisted in an early stage severe long term consequences may arise; and as a limitation for the individual’s daily life, in the sense that they generally deprive themselves of regular routines as a preventive measure to avoid falling. In this paper we describe a hardware unit conceived to automatically detect fall events, and trigger a set of alert actions which allow the remote detection of the occurrence and facilitate rapid assistance.