How ROBO MD works
With elderly and disadvantaged people living alone it is worth caring about falls. Such an accident could have dramatic consequences especially if the person is not able to get up independently anymore. Sometimes the injured person is not even able to call for help, or nobody is present to provide help. In these cases, the immediate automatic detection and validation of such a critical condition allows to decide to call for help, thus minimizing the consequence, possibly even fatal, of a fall.
Monitored user
For monitoring, the user is equipped with the VS 100 device of the company Intelesens, which includes acceleration measurements. Measured data are transferred via a Bluetooth connection to the main computer, where they are processed. If a fall is detected, the computer activates the robot in order to reach the person and to start questioning.
Measurements
During a fall the measured acceleration signal increases, see chart. Therefore fall detection can be implemented using a threshold-based algorithm. If the acceleration is higher than a given threshold, then an internal alert will be triggered.
Robot
In the event of a detected fall, the robot goes to the patient and initiates a feedback protocol to confirm if the alert is true or false. The feedback protocol consists of prepared questionnaires for each alert type, composed of two to five questions each. The answers to these questions by the patient will indicate whether the alert is valid or not. The robot only calls for help from outside when necessary.
Communication
A typical dialog between robot and user can be:
- Robot: “Excuse me, are you feeling all right?”
- Patient: “No!”
- Robot: “Have you fallen down?”
- Patient: “Yes!”
- Robot: “Do you need help?“
- Patient: “Yes!”
Alert
In the case of a fall relatives or medical personnel can be informed to help the fallen person.
CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM
