ZIGBEE-BASED SMART FALL DETECTION AND NOTIFICATION SYSTEM WITH WEARABLE SENSOR (E-SAFE)

Abstract

Fall is one of the serious health issues among elde rly population in Malaysia. In the event of a fall, a strong impact may be inflicted on the elderly causing severe injuries or even deat h. Another research by the National Institutes of H ealth found that 67% of elderly who fall and fail to seek help within 72 hours are unlikely to survive. Current Personal Emergency Res pond System (PERS) often employs the use of a manual emergency button. Howev er this approach may not be useful if the fall vict im become unconscious or even not be able to move to reach the emergency but ton. In addition, such as this approach also requir es more time and inadequate to notify and seek for immediate help. This paper atte mpts to design and implement a smart fall detection system for real time notification known as e-SAFE. This system will auto matically detect a fall and notifies the incident instantly to internal and external correspondence. The e-SAFE equipped with a wearable accelerometer sensor, microcontroller, ZigBee tran sceiver module and Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) devic e. The in-house correspondence will be notifies tho ugh the ZigBee technology, meanwhile the external correspondence will be notif ied through GSM. Once a fall has been detected by esystem, a Short Message Service (SMS) and an E-mail will be sent to predefined contacts which is stored in the system. This system will provide a path toward independent living for the elderly whil e keeping them save.