DETECTION OF CHANGES FROM A SEATED OR LYING BODY POSITION BY SENSING BODY ANGLE

摘要

Methods and apparatuses for detecting when a subject gets up out of bed or out of chair by detecting changes in body flexion angle with respect to a threshold. Also described herein are systems for monitoring one or more subjects each wearing an angle-sensing unit.

主权项

1. A method of issuing an alert when a subject wearing an angle-sensing unit gets up from a bed or a chair, the method comprising:
setting, in a microcontroller connected to an angle sensor in the angle-sensing unit, a first value representing a first angle of the angle-sensing unit when the subject is sitting in a chair or reclined in a bed; sampling the angle sensor to determine a sampled value representing a sampled angle of the sensor; determining a difference between the sampled value and the first value to detect a change in the subject's body angle; wirelessly transmitting an alert if the difference between the sampled value and the first value exceeds a threshold indicating that the subject has gotten up from the bed or out of the chair; and receiving the alert at a monitoring unit.