We’re no strangers to devices which can assist elderly patients by detecting falls and automatically calling for help, and recently we’ve been reporting on a number of exciting medical uses for Microsoft’s Kinect video game input device. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Missouri have combined these two concepts by using the Kinect to monitor residents at an independent living community.
The new system pairs data from security system motion sensors and the Kinect to produce 3D silhouettes of residents, which can then be monitored for falls. In addition to detecting falls, the system can also help prevent falls altogether by picking up on changes in a resident’s gait which might suggest an elevated risk of falling, and automatically alerts nurses when intervention is required.
