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In the daily life of the elderly, falling is a common accident and results in severe consequences. Hence, considerable research has been conducted on fall detection for the elderly. Smartphones, which have motion sensors and transmitting modules, have been applied as fall detectors. However, the performance of human activity recognition using various smartphones is usually lower than those using a dedicated smartphone due to different specification values of built-in smartphone accelerometers. This presents a challenge in the development of technology for using smartphones as fall detectors. In this study, we compared the specifications of built-in accelerometers which are essential for fall detection in four smartphones from different manufacturers. To test fall detection performance on various smartphones, 10 young healthy volunteers were included to wear the four smartphones and perform daily activities and fall event trials. Then the accuracies of a fall detection algorithm performed on four d...

Falling is a common accident that can lead to serious injury among the elderly. To reduce injuries resulting from falls, automatic detection allows immediate medical assistance. Hence, various fall detectors, including body sensors and smartphones, have been developed in recent decades. In our previous study, an accelerometer-based fall detector was designed with high accuracy for simulated falls performed by young volunteers. However, there are significant differences between the acceleration signals generated by simulated and real falls. Simulated devices do not accurately assess the sensitivity and specificity of falls. Hence, the goal of this study is to access the accuracy of our designed accelerometer-based fall detection algorithm using a real-world repository. The results showed that the algorithm accurately characterizes real falls. Differences between our approach and previously published algorithms are discussed. This study is expected to assist in the design of more effective practical...

A suitable tension is critical to good prognoses of surgical repair of injured tendons or ligaments. The existing transducers have limiting roles in measuring the repair tension of intact tendons or ligaments. This study fabricated a sensor to assist surgeons in measuring tension during repair surgery. A peg-type force transducer made from stainless steel served the advantages of easy application and sterilizability. The electrical signals were stabilized by a bridge circuit coupled with two strain gauges. The performances of the system, which were tested by thin and thick silicon tubes, were linear to the applied forces. The results suggest that this system is reliable for force measurement and is beneficial for optimizing the tension of tendons or ligaments during repair surgeries.

Distraction osteogenesis is a procedure in orthopedics for skeletal lengthening. This operation sometimes causes clinical complications such as paralysis and pain related to the rate and extent of distraction. Therefore, a tension-force monitoring system is mandatory to control optimal lengthening. We developed a portable, low-power consumption system to continuously monitor the distracted tensions during the distraction osteogenesis period on the tibias of four male New Zealand white rabbits. The lengthening rate was 1mm per day at frequencies of once a day in one rabbit, and of three successive steps in the others. The system indicates the distraction measured by force, which is considered to be more physiological in nature rather than by distance. Radiographs were also taken for comparison. The results showed that the system was stable and approximate to being ideal. The measured distract-tension recovered to a steady state faster at the frequency of 1mm a day in three steps, rather than once per day. ...

This article introduces a wireless 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) recording system to monitor high-risk cardiovascular diseases. The design overcomes the limitation of wireless transmission by analog multiplexing. The proposed technique provides three leads of ECG at a time and requires less than 15 sec to display the total 12 leads ECG signals on a remote computer. This increases the chances to discover certain acute symptoms earlier. In addition, the synchronous display of three-lead ECG allows the clinician to survey the ECG from the same plane of the heart. The system is designed with low power consumption and is capable of long-term monitoring.