《Chinese Journal of Rehabilitation Theory and Practice》 ›› 2015, Vol. 21 ›› Issue (07): 780-784.

• 特稿 • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Inertial Measurement Unit and Fall Risk Assessment in the Elderly (review)

YANG Bo1, FU Cheng-long2   

  1. 1. the 7th Ward, Beijing Geriatric Hospital, Beijing 100095, China; 2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
  • Received:1900-01-01 Revised:1900-01-01 Published:2015-07-25 Online:2015-07-25

Abstract: Falling in the elderly is a major health problem and may cause severe consequences. Fall risk assessment is important for preventing and intervening fall incidence. Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) has been introduced to evaluate motion/balance function and fall risk among the older people. Some researches indicated that it might have advantages over the usual tools, and can be used in the hospitals, communities, nursing homes, etc. IMU is a good way to measure gait variability, which may be strongly related with the risk of falls.

Key words: fall, Inertial Measurement Unit, risk assessment, old, review