A Smart and Passive Floor-Vibration Based Fall Detector for Elderly
Majd Alwan, prabhu Jude Rajendran, Steve Kell, David Mack, Siddharth Dalal, Matt Wolfe, Robin Felder  - May, 2007

Medical Automation Research Center

Falls are very prevalent among the elderly. These adverse events are the second leading cause of unintentional-injury death for people of all ages and the leading cause of death for elders 79 years and older [1]. A five-year prospective study of an active ambulatory institutionalized population of adults over the age of 65 years revealed an annual fall rate of 668 incidents per 1000, with an increase in frequency for successive age groups above the age of 75 years.

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