Fall prevention technology being developed at Southampton
Researchers here at the University of Southampton are working to conceive, design, test and eventually trial fall prevention technologies for people living with neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease or coping with the aftermath of a stroke.
It is all part of the work of the Health Sciences-based Rehabilitaion and Health Technologies research group into neurorehabilitation. One example of fall prevention technology being developed at Southampton is the project known as SPHERE.
SPHERE envisages using sensors in the home environment to detect and monitor health across a spectrum of ages and conditions. Its focus, however, is on safe mobility in the home, which means it could become a key piece of future fall prevention technology.
SPHERE expects to use sensors, for example: that employ video and motion analytics to predict falls and detect strokes so that help may be summoned; that use video sensing to analyse eating behaviour, including whether people are taking their prescribed medication; and that use video to detect periods of depression or anxiety and intervene using a computer-based therapy.
Furthermore, the SPHERE project will take an interdisciplinary approach, in order that: the system is acceptable in people's homes; it solves real healthcare problems in a cost-effective way; and it generates knowledge that will improve clinical practice.
The SPHERE proposal has been developed from day one with clinicians, social workers and clinical scientists from internationally-recognised institutes, including the Bristol Heart Institute, Southampton's Rehabilitation and Health Technologies Group, the NIHR Biomedical Research Unit in Nutrition, Diet and Lifestyle and the Orthopaedic Surgery Group at Southmead hospital in Bristol.
The project draws upon expertise from the UK's leading groups in communications, machine vision, cybernetics, data mining and energy harvesting, and also from two multinational corporations with world-class reputations for research and development (IBM/Toshiba).
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To find out more about Fall Prevention Technologybeing developed here at Southampton, simply visit www.southampton.ac.uk/rht
Submitted on: 2014-09-28 12:54:24