Fortunately, researchers from Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia have created a prototype device aimed toward preventing nasty falls. The team created a portable monitoring system with sensors that are able to measure when a potential fall risk is around (e.g. an object, a bump in the sidewalk, etc...). Worn on the ankle and no bigger than an iPod Mini (remember those?), the sensors pick up a person's speed, mobility, and gait, so what is considered a hazard is adjusted accordingly.
The early prototype will help the researchers improve the device, particularly its Remote Observation Operating Platform monitor system, otherwise known as ROOP-Alert. ROOP-Alert monitors the device and looks at more aspects of the wearer's health, such as posture and further body sensoring. When an hazard is detected, ROOP-Alert will also warn nurses or other caretakers to the danger, so they can assist the wearer, therefore helping stop falls.
This new monitoring sensor system could be a big deal to those who need it most, especially in situations where it could be, quite literally, the difference between life, horrific injuries or death.
[Virginia Tech via Physorg]
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