Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 24-6 - 5

On the Assessment and Reliability
of Assistive Technology: The Case of
Falls and Postural Sway Monitoring
Bruno Andò, Salvatore Baglio, Salvatore Castorina,
Vincenzo Marletta, and Ruben Crispino
T
he development of an Active and Healthy Ageing
(AHA) society is gaining more and more interest
all over the world. It is worth mentioning that by
2050, worldwide, one in six people will be over 65 years of
age, which represents a drastic increase over today's proportion
[1], [2]. Consequently, several questions also arise from
the perspective of the public healthcare system. The most
challenging ones are surely: " What kind of health and social
systems should be developed to assure the deserved quality
of life of an ageing population and which solutions may be developed
to such aim? "
Health and Welfare organizations are deeply involved to
address these needs. As an example, well-being is the main
target for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development [3],
which aims to foster the accessibility of reliable and highquality
assistive solutions. Similarly, the EU Commission has
launched several initiatives to promote active ageing across
Europe, such as the European Innovation Partnership on Active
and Healthy Ageing (EIP-AHA), the Active and Assisted
Living Joint Programme (AAL JP) and the Knowledge and
Innovation Community (KIC) on Health and Active Ageing.
These initiatives aim to ensure that elderly can benefit
from healthier lives, receive appropriate care, as well as live
independently.
Assistive Technology (AT) can play a fundamental role
in the improvement of life quality, with particular regards
to all those solutions and services that support the elderly
in performing everyday tasks, accessing public services and
participating in social life. The use of AT will strongly foster
end-users' independence, self-esteem, and safety: all strategic
ingredients that will enable an independent life on their own
premises. These are the Social Objectives of Assistive Technologies
[4].
A wide scientific literature exists in the framework of AT
which offers interesting readings and effective solutions.
Examples of good reviews in the field are available in [5]-
[7]. It is mandatory to highlight that AT is strongly sustained
by competences and skills in the field of Instrumentation
and Measurement, with specific regards to sensors,
September 2021
measurement methodologies, signal processing and their
assessment. Enabling technologies include sensors, wearable
sensing systems, dedicated electronics, advanced
paradigms, and more generally, Internet Of Things. This aspect
has been deeply addressed in our previous work [4],
where examples of AT that support the main needs of frail
people have been identified, and the strict connection with
the Instrumentation and Measurement framework has been
demonstrated.
In this paper, a general review of existing solutions and
measurement methodologies to address the two peculiar tasks
of Fall and Postural Sway monitoring is introduced, highlighting
main challenges and open problems. Moreover, case
studies are briefly discussed.
Falls and Postural Sway Monitoring:
Solutions and Their Reliability
A primary threat to Active and Assisted Living (AAL) is
represented by the progressive impairment in performing
Activities of Daily Living (ADL), such as mobility, drinking
and eating, stair negotiation, sitting and standing up,
lying down and performing physical activity [5]. Frailty
often leads to loss of autonomy in ADLs, as well as healthrelated
problems that require institutionalization and/or
hospitalization, with direct influences on the quality of life.
So, the monitoring of ADLs, Falls and Postural Instability
are among major issues that need to be addressed. Elderly
are not the only players being affected by falls and postural
instabilities. People suffering from neurodegenerative
diseases, such as the Parkinson's disease, also suffer from
postural instabilities and related falls within one year from
the onset of the disease.
A range of fall prevention interventions have been developed
within both research and practice. These include clinical
assessment and treatment of fall risk factors, such as exercise
programs that focus on balance and muscle strength, medication
management and vision checking. Although big progress
has been made through the years, falls are still a serious issue
nowadays.
IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine
1094-6969/21/$25.00©2021IEEE
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