Detection of baseline and near-fall postural stability

It is unknown whether there are any measurable warning signs just before a patient falls. This study of postural position just prior to a fall involved a subject standing on a balance beam while wearing a gyroscope-based wireless data acquisition system. Results show a variation in postural position when the subject appeared stable. This occurred well before the subject experienced a fall and could not be classified as pre-fall or fall. The results show that there are two distinguishable levels of postural stability — baseline and near-fall.