Application for Detecting Falls for Elderly Persons through Internet of Things Combined with Pulse Sensor

Abstract

The World Health Organization predicts that, by 2050, 400 million people will be aged 80 years or more. In Japan and Taiwan, many elderly persons have health problems but live alone and require long-term medical care. Living and caring for the elderly persons at home is a critical issue that governments in many countries need to pay attention to. The most common safety incident for elderly persons at home is falling. Previous research groups have used video cameras to monitor falls in elderly persons. The use of cameras may cause privacy intrusions, for example if the person being monitored is in the bathroom or toilet. In this study, we used IoT technology to monitor the heart rate data of an elderly person on a smart phone and issue a fall notification when the elderly person is at home. We installed the pulse detection sensor inside the shoe, obtained the heart rate data from the toes, and uploaded these data to a cloud storage space. If an elderly person falls and an abnormal heart rate is detected at the same time, the system will send a warning message to the caregiver or family member through LINE Notify. Caregivers or family members can check the heart rate status of the elderly at home at any time through a mobile application after receiving the notification. Through this study, we effectively improved the function of smart care (e-Health) through the fall warning notification and heart rate monitoring for elderly persons.