Internet of things based fall detection and heart rate monitoring system for senior citizens

Abstract

Falls cause the maximum number of injuries, deaths, and hospitalizations due to injury for senior citizens worldwide. So, fall detection is essential in the health care of senior citizens. Present methods lack either accuracy or comfortability. The design of fall detection and heart rate monitoring system for senior citizens has been presented in this paper. The hardware interface includes wearable monitoring devices based on a tri-axial accelerometer and Bluetooth module that makes a wireless connection by software interface (mobile application) to the caregiver. Global positioning system (GPS) can also track the location of the elder. For detecting falls accurately, an effective fall detection algorithm is developed and used. The performance parameters of the fall detection system are accuracy (97.6%), sensitivity (92.8%), and specificity (100%). A pulse sensor is used for monitoring the heart rate of the elder. The device is put on the hips to increase comfortability. Whenever the elder's fall is detected, the device can send information on fall data and heart rate with location to the respective caregiver successfully. So, this device can minimize the injury and health cost of a fallen person as a victim can get help within a short time.