Fall Guardian
Preventing loved ones from suffering a devastating fall
Introduction
Fall guardian brings real-time, continuous, physical protection to older adults at high risk of falling. Not only are we constantly monitoring the older adults fall risk level, but our device is always there with them ready to provide physical support as needed. The device responds to falls in real-time as they are happening, versus just simply issuing an alert after the fact and the damage is done.
Problem
Falls are the number one cause of injury related deaths in older adults. One in four older adults fall every year in the U.S., resulting in 14 million falls annually. Even non-fatal falls in the elderly population can result in catastrophic personal injury. This limits the subsequent activities the individual can perform, requiring them to obtain higher levels of care, and leading to a reduction in their quality of life. Additionally, falls pose a huge burden on care institutions, who are chronically understaffed and cannot adequetly monitor and assist all patients at high risk of falling. Falls also have significant financial implications for individuals, care institutions, and insurers as $50 billion is spent on medical costs related to non-fatal fall injuries alone annually, according to the CDC.
Opportunity
Our solution consists of a mobile robot equipped with padded arms that continuously follows behind the user and predicts their fall risk using onboard sensors and AI algorithms. When the user is predicted to be at high risk of falling, the robot will gently embrace them, preventing them from falling.
This technology could transform long-term care facilities and rehabilitation centers by providing continuous physical assistance and fall protection for individuals with mobility impairments. Such levels of protection are not currently possible due to ubiquitous staff shortages across the industry. By reducing fall injuries that are fatal or force patients into higher levels of care, it would help preserve quality of life and avoid costly medical expenses for patients and insurers. Additionally, it could alleviate physical and time burdens on staff by reducing the need to physically support patients, perform post-fall care, and carry out the associated lengthy documentation processes.