A wireless platform for fall and mobility monitoring

This paper describes the design and development of a wireless sensor for fall and mobility monitoring. The sensor, which was made as part of a European project called CAALYX, can be used to monitor mobility of the user and to identify fall events. Using a Bluetooth link the device can be configured and logged data, events and alerts can be sent to a repository. In clinical trials with elderly users as part of the CAALYX project the data were relayed to a caretaker site where direct action could be undertaken upon receiving an alert. In this paper the hardware development of the sensor is described and trial results are presented to demonstrate the capabilities of the sensor.