Risk of Falling in a Timed Up and Go Test Using an UWB Radar and an Instrumented Insole.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Gerontology
• Sensor Technology

Background:

• Wearable sensors enable elderly fall analysis but have daily usability issues.
• Limitations include energy consumption, data transfer, and physical attachment.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce an unobtrusive radar sensor for fall risk assessment.
• Combine radar with an instrumented insole for enhanced data.
• Evaluate the performance of this combined system.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a radar sensor and an instrumented insole.
• Acquired data during the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test.
• Computed stride length (SL) using three insole approaches and compared with radar data.

Main Results:

• Stride length from the third insole approach showed no statistical significance (p=0.2083) compared to radar.
• Risk scores with a three-force-sensor-resistor (FSR) insole and acceleration were comparable to radar and two-FSR combination.
• Reduced FSRs did not significantly impact risk score accuracy when combined with radar.

Conclusions:

• Contactless Timed Up and Go testing is feasible using radar technology.
• Supplementing radar with an instrumented insole enhances data precision.
• This approach aids professionals in making accurate fall risk decisions.