Scientists have found a way to predict that a person with Alzheimer’s disease will fall soon. In this respect informs Press office of Chalmers University of Technology.
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most common forms of dementia. It causes cognitive and motor impairments, and many people may begin to spontaneously fall while walking. For example, it is estimated that 3 million older adults in the United States visit the emergency room each year due to fall accidents.
In this context, Xuezhi Zeng and his colleagues developed a radar that takes data about human steps and measures its parameters. It is designed in an enclosure no larger than a fire alarm and can be used in the healthcare system, home or aged care home.
“The key is to change the stride time. A healthy person normally has a correct gait. But a person at risk of falling often has great variability in stepping time. For example, the first step may take one second and the second step two seconds,” the scientists explain.
If such symptoms are found, preventive measures such as physiotherapy, individual education or adjustment to the home environment can be taken, thus avoiding suffering and costly hospital treatment. In addition to being easy to use, another advantage of this method is that it collects data without video recording and without compromising privacy.
previous experiment refuted the presence of macaque belief in justice.