Yahoo News 'Stumble suit' could prevent trips and falls forever
Imagine a wearable device that could detect when you were about to trip over, and adjust your weight so you could remain upright, banishing falls forever.
Scientists in Switzerland have developed a carbon fiber ‘stumble suit’ which can prevent broken bones and dislocated hips.
The lightweight exoskeleton attaches to the legs and hips, and counteracts loss of balance after an accidental slip.
It was primarily designed to help prevent falls in the elderly. One in three pensioners has had at least one fall in the past year at a cost of £2.3 billion a year to the NHS.
Elderly patients are also three times as likely to die following a ground-level fall compared to their under-70 counterparts.
“Our smart exoskeleton is lightweight and extremely easy to personalize,” said Dr Silvestro Micera, professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne.
“We developed a system to detect the onset of falling and do generate support to balance recover and reduce the probability of falling.”
The exoskeleton requires only a few minutes to adapt to a given patient, which involves adjusting the size and learning the user's gait. It then detects walking patterns and the system’s built-in algorithm looks for deviations in steps, which predicts the onset of a fall.
When that happens, the motors push both of the thighs down, reestablishing stability at the hip.
Fulvio Bertelli, 69, who tested the device on special treadmill which was designed to make him lose his balance said: “When I wear the exoskeleton I feel I am supported and protected even during normal walking. I feel more confident.”
Although the test ‘suit’ is still bulky, the team is working to make the device far less intrusive, so it could be worn discretely under clothing.
“This work paves the way for imagining a completely new generation of exoskeletons that will actually be effective outside of research laboratories thanks to their ability to augment users’ movement and make their mobility more stable and safe,” said co-author Prof Nicola Vitiello from Scuola Sant’Anna, at the University of Pisa.
“To reach these goals, exoskeletons must be endowed with features, like the one proved in this study, that really take into account what users can experience in real-life unstructured environments.”
The new device was described in the journal Scientific Reports.
