Citation

Liu J, Lockhart T. J. Biomech. Eng. 2014; 136(10): 101005.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, American Society of Mechanical Engineers)

DOI

10.1115/1.4028033

PMID

25033029

Abstract

Prior to developing any specific fall detection algorithm, it is critical to distinguish the unique motion feature associated with fall accidents. The current study aimed to investigate the upper trunk angular kinematics during slip-induced backward falls and ADLs. Ten healthy elderly were involved in a laboratory study. Sagittal trunk angular kinematics was measured using optical motion analysis system during normal walking, slip-induced backward falls, lying down, bending over, and various types of sitting down. Trunk angular phase-plane plots were generated to reveal the motion feature of falls. It was found that backward falls were characterized by a simultaneous occurrence of an extremely high trunk extension velocity (peak average = 139.7°/s) and a slight trunk extension. It was concluded that the trunk motion features of falls were clearly distinguishable (on the ensemble level, may not between individual trials) from those of ADLs from the perspective of angular phase-plane plot. Such motion feature can be utilized in future studies to develop a new prior-to-impact fall detection algorithm.

Language: en