5th European Conference of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering

Abstract

Hip fracture among the elderly is a serious problem that not only decreases their quality of life (QOL) and activities of daily living (ADL) but also has significant effects on their medical expenses. Therefore, it is necessary to use effective countermeasures to prevent falls among the elderly population. Although various factors are associated with falling, it is thought that three points are important from the perspective of physical function: ambulatory function, balance function, and lower-limb muscle strength. This study focused on quantitative evaluation of the ambulatory and balance functions, and we developed a shoe device to measure plantar pressure under the natural environments of daily life. The device consists of insoles for the shoes with seven-point pressure sensors and wireless communication units. These enable the measurement of physical functions in an unrestrained state. Because falling usually occurs when the individual walks dynamically during daily activities, it is necessary that the method of functional evaluation is suitable for use during the individual's typical activities. In this study, field tests were conducted with the developed device to evaluate features of ambulatory function among healthy young subjects, healthy elderly subjects, frail elderly subjects. And some participant's physical functions were measured with the developed device in a fall prevention class. Pressure values at heel-contact and toe-off and center of pressure trajectories while walking were quantitatively evaluated. The results revealed that the device could capture the features of the subject's individual ambulatory pattern and it could be used even at pubic venues such as welfare and local government facilities. And the change of the pressure value before and after intervention was able to be observed. The developed device can identify elderly people at high risk for falls and helps match the appropriate fall prevention approach to each individual. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.