Emergency Incident Detection and Fall Prevention Solution

More than 70,000 elderly live alone and are cared for by over 400 social welfare organisations in Singapore. As the population's average age continues to rise and the healthcare manpower continues to shrink, this particularly vulnerable group of individuals require quick access to the right care at the right time. Technology that gives caregivers the ability to respond to incidents promptly is highly crucial in such situations. 

This technology is designed to respect the privacy of the people under monitoring as it does not utilise any camera hardware. Deployment does not require any wearable devices nor are there any buttons to press to call for assistance. Operating continuously, it is also able to function at all hours of the day (both day and night) regardless of ambient noise. This integrated system monitors the safety of the elderly and individuals who live alone, making the home safer while improving their quality of life - providing caregivers with a real-time link and peace of mind.

Sound recognition identifies audio abnormalities and detects screams for help while fall detection identifies the following states:

• Walking/Standing
• Falling
• Lying on floor

Motion sensors trigger an alert under the following situations:

• if the elderly person is living alone
• lack of motion during morning hours (6 - 9am)
• non-responsive falls by identifying the absence of motion after a configurable period of time e.g. falling in an occupied washroom or the lack of motion in an apartment for several hours during the daytime

The following are additional features of the technology:

• Computes at the edge, without the need for costly data connectivity to the cloud
• Powered by Ethernet (PoE)
• Two-way voice intercom
• Compact form factor

This technology is able to provide continuous monitoring for the following applications:

• Fall detection
• Fall prevention via bed-exit events
• Abnormal sound/audio recognition
• Immobility, due to fainting or collapse detected from a lack of motion
• Absence of motion in the morning

The solution triggers real-time alerts to caregivers or nursing home staff for the following scenarios:

• Fall
• Screaming
• Lack of motion during the morning period
• No movement for a configurable period of time

The system operates as a second eye for caregivers, by providing early intervention and improving caregivers' incident awareness and response time. It ensures round-the-clock safety for elderly home residents or the elderly who live alone by minimising the delay between incident occurrence and response. Designed from the ground up as a supplementary system that does not intrude into the privacy of individuals it enables fast verification - where caregivers can verify an alert from a subscribed mobile device via a 3 second audio or video clip - which is much faster than a conventional emergency pull cord system

The technology owner is interested in collaborating with partners for test-bedding opportunities.