Analysis of a Smartphone-Based Architecture with Multiple Mobility Sensors for Fall Detection

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 11; no. 12; p. e0168069
• Main Authors: Casilari, Eduardo, Santoyo-Ramón, Jose Antonio, Cano-García, Jose Manuel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 08.12.2016; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Accidental Falls; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Algorithms; Analysis; Architectural engineering; Architecture; Biology and Life Sciences; Cellular telephones; Computer and Information Sciences; Datasets; Earth Sciences; Engineering and Technology; Fall detection; Falls; Humans; International conferences; Internet; Medicine and Health Sciences; Middle Aged; Mobility; Monitoring, Ambulatory - instrumentation; Motion; Physical Sciences; Research and Analysis Methods; Sensors; Smart phones; Smartphone; Smartphones; Social Sciences; Wearable computers; Wireless networks; Young Adult; United States; United States > US; Spain
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0168069

During the last years, many research efforts have been devoted to the definition of Fall Detection Systems (FDSs) that benefit from the inherent computing, communication and sensing capabilities of smartphones. However, employing a smartphone as the unique sensor in a FDS application entails several disadvantages as long as an accurate characterization of the patient's mobility may force to transport this personal device on an unnatural position. This paper presents a smartphone-based architecture for the automatic detection of falls. The system incorporates a set of small sensing motes that can communicate with the smartphone to help in the fall detection decision. The deployed architecture is systematically evaluated in a testbed with experimental users in order to determine the number and positions of the sensors that optimize the effectiveness of the FDS, as well as to assess the most convenient role of the smartphone in the architecture.