TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2015//
TI  - Prior-to- and post-impact fall detection using inertial and barometric altimeter measurements
JO  - IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering
A1  - Sabatini, Angelo Maria
A1  - Ligorio, Gabriele
A1  - Mannini, Andrea
A1  - Genovese, Vincenzo
A1  - Pinna, Laura
SP  - 774
EP  - 783
VL  - 24
IS  - 7
N2  - This paper investigates a fall detection system based on the integration of an inertial measurement unit with a barometric altimeter (BIMU). The vertical motion of the body part the BIMU was attached to was monitored on-line using a method that delivered drift-free estimates of the vertical velocity and estimates of the height change from the floor. The experimental study included activities of daily living of 7 types and falls of 5 types, simulated by a cohort of 25 young healthy adults. The downward vertical velocity was thresholded at 1.38 m/s, yielding 80% sensitivity (SE), 100% specificity (SP) and a mean prior-to-impact time of 157 ms (range 40-300 ms). The soft falls, i.e., those with downward vertical velocity above 0.55 m/s and below 1.38 m/s were analyzed post-impact. Six fall detection methods, tuned to achieve 100% SE, were considered to include features of impact, change of posture and height, singularly or in association with one another. No single feature allowed for 100% SP. The detection accuracy marginally improved when the height change was considered in association with either the impact or the change of posture; the post-impact fall detection method that analyzed the impact and the change of posture together achieved 100% SP.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1534-4320
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TNSRE.2015.2460373
ID  - ref1
ER  -