GB2323196A

GB2323196A - Automatic fall alarm

Info

Publication number: GB2323196A
Application number: GB9705014A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Keith Henderson Cameron
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-03-11
Filing date: 1997-03-11
Publication date: 1998-09-16
Anticipated expiration: 2017-03-11
Also published as: GB2323196B; GB9705014D0

Abstract

An automatic fall alarm which is comprised in part by a fall or impact detector (F) and a discriminator (H) which determines the severity of the fall. Following a heavy fall the attitude monitor (I) determines the subsequent attitude of the user over a period of time (t c ). A decision processor (J) then uses data from these inputs to determine if an alarm situation exists, and if so what level of alarm is the most appropriate. Once initiated an alarm-initiated warning signal is sounded for a period of time t a . If there is no further changes following time t a , the appropriate alarm (L) is triggered and sent by (K). If there is a change, either by manual re-setting of the alarm or from changes in the attitude of the user measured by (I), the type of alarm may be altered or cancelled. Data about the number and frequency of falls may be stored and transmitted.

Description

AUTOMATIC FALL ALARM The present invention relates to methods and arrangements for an automatic fall or impact alarm, which in particular but not exclusively can detect, and then under continuing emergency circumstances, summon help for, a person who falls, and who as a result of that fall, or otherwise, is unable to summon help for themselves.

In a situation where a person lives alone, a fall which results in them becoming confused or comatose, would prevent them actuating any manually operated form of emergency alarm call system.

Many such manually operated systems already exist and these may take many different forms, including cord operated alarms and push-button radio based alarms worn by the person. These have been found to be effective in a number of different ways. By way of example, by giving the users, who generally are elderly people living on their own in their own homes or in sheltered accommodation, a greater sense of independence and security (Hyer K., Rudick L.,"The Effectiveness of Personal Emergency Response Systems in Meeting the Safety Monitoring Needs of Home Care Client", , J. Nursing Administration, Vol 24, No 6, June 1994). Or, by way of example, by reducing the costs of hospitalisation and institutionisation (Sherwood S., Morris J., "A Study of the Effects of an Emergency Alarm and Response System for the Aged", A Final Report, Boston MA, Hebrew Rehabilitation Centre for the Aged, 1981).

The present invention relates to a system which extends these and introduces further benefits, by providing an automatic fall alarm system which does nor require any intervention by the user. It can be used either together with, or separate from, a manually operated system. The alarm, in the present invention, being automatically actuated and transmitted in the event of an incapacitating fall which leaves the person unable to request assistance manually. In addition the system also includes data collection and processing systems which enable data on a person's physiological and/or physical condition to be monitored. The effectivessness, usability and acceptability of such devices are dependent upon a number of features which the present invention incorporates. The present invention relates to a means of detecting a fall or impact, a means of determining the severity of the fall or impact, a means of customising the response of the fall or impact detector for user and/or environmental variables, a means of initiation of an alarm determined by a decision process, a means for determining the most appropriate level for the alarm, a means to prevent accidental alarm signals, a means of warning the person that an alarm is about to be sent, a means for switching off the alarm prior to it being sent, a means to conserve power and increase battery lifetimes, a means to transmit to a remote receiver, a means to count the number and/or frequency of the times that the fall alarm transmits, a means to count the number and/or frequency of fall or impact events, together with or separately from their severity, a means to process the alarm and/or fall or impact event data, a means to store this data, a means to transmit this data or any derived data.

According to the present invention there is provided an automated fall alan. This comprises a unit worn by the person (which could be for example attached to their belt) which contains the fall or impact detector circuit designed to monitor changes in acceleration of the unit and hence the person (which could be for example an accelerometer, or a tri-axial group of accelerometers of a type similar to the EG & G IC Sensors Model 3022 ). The electrical output from this circuit is proportional to the magnitude of the acceleration and is approximately independent of its direction.

The electrical output it passed through a discriminator which enables, by way of example, heavy falls above a threshold (Ta) to be identified. Data about the number, frequency and severity of all falls or impacts above a minimum threshold (Tm) can be stored, processed and transmitted, as required. The discriminator setting also enables the threshold of the fall or impact detector to be customised to accommodate for variables in both the user and/or their environment. By way of example it could be adjusted to compensate for variations in the users body mass.

After a fall or impact, above a defined threshold, for example (Ta), has occurred, the present invention, measures one or more physical parameters of the user, in order to assertain the effect of the fall or impact on their subsequent behaviour. By way of example the person's steadiness on their feet can be measured to check for dizziness.

As another example, the person's orientation or attitude can be measured. To do this, one embodiment of the present invention, is equipped with a means of identifying its attitude, and by extrapolation that of the person wearing it. By way of example this could be accomplished using a miniature, or group of miniature, electronic clinometers, or inclinometers, such as the Eurosensor "Cline" Model 100013-01.

Using information from these sensors, either separately or combined with elapsed time, conclusions about the effects of the fall or impact on the person can be deduced. By way of example, if the sensors indicate that the user has had a heavy fall or impact, and then that they remain in a near horizontal position for a set-time (tc), then there is a high probability that they are injured. The present invention also includes a means by which the priority level of any alarm may be determined. By way of example, in the case of a heavy fall followed by a long period of horizontal attitude an immediate high level alarm would be triggered, requiring immediate intervention; on the other hand if there was a heavy fall followed by a short period of horizontal attitude, a lower level of alarm can be initiated, requiring a less urgent and more appropriate response. By way of example these functions and decision processing can be accomplished by the use a single chip processor. The present invention also includes means to reduce the number of unwanted or false alarms.

Accordingly, by way of example, the present invention includes a switch which, when the fall alarm is no longer being worn, automatically switches it off, thus preventing an alarm being triggered if the unworn unit is dropped. By way of example, for the belt worn fall alarm, this function is carried out by the use of a switch which forms part of the belt-clip. The action of removing the fall detector from the belt switches it off, and it is switched on by being clipped back-on. This system also enables the battery life to be extended. The present invention also includes a system which warns the wearer that an alarm has been initiated and that it is about to be transmitted, thus they have the option of cancelling the alarm. By way of example, a tone from the fall alarm unit indicates that after a set-time (ta) the alarm will be transmitted, if the user feels that such an alarm is now inappropriate, they can cancel the alarm using the re-set switch. The present invention also has further systems which reduces its power consumption by powering down parts of the circuit until they are required. Thus, by way of example, the timer, decision processor, and attitude monitor circuits have very low power consumptions until a heavy fall or impact occurs. Once the alarm has been initiated and provided that it is not cancelled or re-set, the present invention transmits the appropriate alarm signal to a remote receiver. By way of example this could be by the use of an encoded radio signal based on the licence exempt MET 1340 radio spectrum. The number of times that such alarm signals are transmitted can be stored, processed or re-transmitted.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows an example of the fall alarm as a belt worn unit.

Figure 2 shows a block diagram of the circuit functions of the belt-worn fall alarm.

Figure 3 shows a block diagram of the circuit functions of the fall alarm receiver unit.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a belt-worn fall alarm system A, where B is the belt clip and switch, C shows the alarm button to initiate a manual alarm, D shows the alarm re-set switch and E shows the warning indicator that the alarm has been initiated.

Figure 2 shows a block diagram of the circuit function of the belt-worn fall alarm.

When the unit is attached to the belt, switch B initially supplies power to the fall detector system F, the variable discriminator H, and the processor M, from the power management system G, whilst only very low power is drawn by units I, J, K, N . Where I is the attitude monitor, J is the decision processor and timer, K is the alarm encoder system, and N the transmitter. The number, frequency and severity of all falls and impacts, above a minimum threshold (Tm) defined by H, are stored, processed, or transmitted using M and N. In the event of a heavy fall or impact being detected above a threshold (Ta) defined by H , units I, J, and K become active, and G supplies them with more power. At this stage, I monitors the attitude of the user; and J makes a decision on whether an alarm situation exists, and if so what level of alarm is the most appropriate, basing its decision on outputs form H and I, together with timing information. Once initiated the alarm-initiated warning signal is sounded by unit E, for a period of time ta. If there is no further changes following time ta, the appropriate alarm is triggered and sent by K to be transmitted by N. If there is a change, either by manual re-setting of the alarm using D, or from changes in the attitude of the user measured by I, the type of alarm may be altered, by unit J, or may be cancelled, returning the unit to its quiescent state, under the control of G, with only units F, H, and M being fully active.

Figure 3 shows a block diagram of the circuit function of the receiver unit for the fall alarm. When a fall alarm is initiated from the fall detector, it is received by P and decoded by Q . The appropriate level and type of alarm signal is actuated by Q, which could be the audible alarm R, or the automated telephone messaging system S. Non-alarm event data is decoded by Q , and sent to processor T , which can store, process, and transmit the data or derived information from that data. This data, or derived information, can be subsequently transmitted, on request, by a triggered threshold, or at time intervals, by for example an automated message on S.

Claims

1 An automatic fall alarm, which comprises: a means of detecting a fall or impact, a means of determining the severity of the fall or impact, a means of customising the response of the fall or impact detector for user and/or environmental variables, a means for assertaining the effects of the fall or impact on the person, a means of initiation of an alarm determined by a decision process, a means for determining the most appropriate level for the alarm, a means to prevent accidental alarm signals, a means of warning the person that an alarm is about to be sent, a means for switching off the alarm prior to it being sent, a means to conserve power and increase battery lifetimes, a means to transmit to a remote receiver, a means to store data about the number and frequency of fall or impact and alarm events, a means to process this data, a means to transmit or re-transmit this data.

2 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the means of detecting a fall or impact is determined by a fall or impact detector which measures an applied acceleration.

3 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the means of detecting a fall or impact is determined by a fall or impact detector which measures the magnitude of an applied acceleration.

4 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 3 wherein the fall or impact detector measures the magnitude of an applied acceleration independent of direction.

5 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the means of detecting the severity of a fall or impact is determined by a discriminator unit.

6 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the means of custornising the fall or impact detector for user and/or environmental variables is determined by a discriminator unit.

7 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the means of assertaining the effects of the fall or impact upon the person is determined by the use of monitoring their subsequent physical condition.

8 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the means of assertaining the effects of the fall or impact upon the person is determined by the use of monitoring their subsequent attitude and/or mobility and/or steadiness.

9 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where the initiation of an alarm is determined by a decision process.

10 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where the initiation of an alarm is determined by a decision process based upon inputs from one or more fall or impact variables.

11 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where the initiation of an alarm is determined by a decision process based upon inputs from any or all of: the severity of the fall, modifications from the user and/or environmental discriminator setting, the subsequent attitude of the user, the subsequent mobility of the user, the subsequent steadiness of the user; all or some of these parameters as a function of time.

12 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the priority level of an alarm is determined by a decision process.

13 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where the priority level of an alarm is determined by a decision process based upon inputs from one or more fall or impact variables.

14 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where the priority level of an alarm is determined by a decision process based upon inputs from any or all of: the severity of the fall, modifications from the user and/or environmental discriminator setting, the subsequent attitude of the user, the subsequent mobility of the user, the subsequent steadiness of the user; all or some of these parameters as a function of time.

15 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where the incidence of false alarms are reduced by the use of an automatic off'on switch.

16 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where the incidence of false alarms are reduced by the use of an automatic off switch which is de-activates the unit when the user removes the fall alarm.

17 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where the incidence of false alarms are reduced by the use of an alarm-initiated signal prior to the alarm being sent.

18 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where the incidence of false alarms are reduced by the use of an alarm-initiated signal prior to the alarm being sent which can be acoustic, vibrational or optical in nature.

19 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where the incidence of false alarms are reduced by the use a re-set switch

20 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where the incidence of false alarms are reduced by the use a re-set switch by which the user can manually cancel the alarm before it is sent.

21 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where the power is conserved by selective powering.

22 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where the power is conserved by initially only activating the fall or impact detector and discriminator circuits.

23 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where the power is conserved by initially only activating the fall or impact detector and discriminator circuit and subsequently fully activating the other circuits following a heavy fall or impact.

24 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1, 14 and 15 where the power is conserved by an automatic on/off switch.

25 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where the appropriate alarm condition is sent to a remote receiver.

26 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where the appropriate alarm condition is sent to a remote receiver using a wireless system.

27 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where the appropriate alarm condition is sent to a remote receiver using a wireless system which could use inductive or magnetic coupling, radio, optical or acoustic transmission, or by transmission using other parts of the electro-magnetic spectrum.

28 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where data on the number, frequency and severity of falls or impacts can be stored and/or processed, and this or the derived data, transmitted or re-transmitted.

29 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where data on the number, frequency and severity of falls or impacts can be stored and/or processed, and this or the derived data, transmitted or re-transmitted, in real time, on request, as a triggered response, or at time intervals.

30 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where data on the number and frequency of alarms can be stored and/or processed, and this or the derived data, transmitted or re-transmitted.

31 An automatic fall alarm as claimed in Claim 1 where data on the number and frequency of alarms can be stored and/or processed, and this or the derived data, transmitted or re-transmitted, in real time, on request, as a triggered response, or at time intervals.