The SmartCane System: An Assistive Device for Geriatrics

Winston Wu; Lawrence Au; Brett Jordan; Thanos Stathopoulos; Maxim Batalin; William Kaiser; Alireza Vahdatpour; Majid Sarrafzadeh; Meika Fang; Joshua Chodosh

3rd International ICST Conference on Body Area Networks

Research Article

The SmartCane System: An Assistive Device for Geriatrics

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@INPROCEEDINGS{10.4108/ICST.BODYNETS2008.2944,
    author={Winston Wu and Lawrence Au and Brett Jordan and Thanos Stathopoulos and Maxim Batalin and William Kaiser and Alireza Vahdatpour and Majid Sarrafzadeh and Meika Fang and Joshua Chodosh},
    title={The SmartCane System: An Assistive Device for Geriatrics},
    proceedings={3rd International ICST Conference on Body Area Networks},
    publisher={ICST},
    proceedings_a={BODYNETS},
    year={2010},
    month={5},
    keywords={SmartCane real-time sensing and feedback assistive technology patient monitoring and feedback},
    doi={10.4108/ICST.BODYNETS2008.2944}
}

Winston Wu
Lawrence Au
Brett Jordan
Thanos Stathopoulos
Maxim Batalin
William Kaiser
Alireza Vahdatpour
Majid Sarrafzadeh
Meika Fang
Joshua Chodosh
Year: 2010
The SmartCane System: An Assistive Device for Geriatrics
BODYNETS
ICST
DOI: 10.4108/ICST.BODYNETS2008.2944

Winston Wu¹^,*, Lawrence Au¹^,*, Brett Jordan¹^,*, Thanos Stathopoulos¹^,*, Maxim Batalin¹^,*, William Kaiser¹^,*, Alireza Vahdatpour²^,*, Majid Sarrafzadeh²^,*, Meika Fang³^,*, Joshua Chodosh³^,*

1: Electrical Engineering Department, University of California, Los Angeles
2: Computer Science Department, University of California, Los Angeles
3: Rheumatology and Geriatric Medicine, VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

*Contact email: winston@ee.ucla.edu, au@ee.ucla.edu, bjordan5@ee.ucla.edu, thanos@ee.ucla.edu, maxim@ee.ucla.edu, kaiser@ee.ucla.edu, alireza@cs.ucla.edu, majid@cs.ucla.edu, meika.fang@va.gov, joshua.chodosh@va.gov

Abstract

Falls are currently a leading cause of death from injury in the elderly. The usage of the conventional assistive cane devices is critical in reducing the risk of falls and is relied upon by over 4 million patients in the U.S.. While canes provide physical support as well as supplementary sensing feedback to patients, at the same time, these conventional aids also exhibit serious adverse effects that contribute to falls. The falls due to the improper usage of the canes are particularly acute in the elderly and disabled where reduced cognitive capacity accompanied by the burden of managing cane motion leads to increased risk. This paper describes the development of the SmartCane assistive system that encompasses broad engineering challenges that will impact general development of individualized, robust assistive and prosthetic devices. The SmartCane system combines advances in signal processing, embedded computing, and wireless networking technology to provide capabilities for remote monitoring, local signal processing, and real-time feedback on the cane usage. This system aims to reduce risks of injuries and falls by enabling training and guidance of patients in proper usage of assistive devices.

Keywords: SmartCane real-time sensing and feedback assistive technology patient monitoring and feedback

Published: 2010-05-16
Publisher: ICST
Modified: 2010-05-16

: http://dx.doi.org/10.4108/ICST.BODYNETS2008.2944