NASA Internet, Erez Lieberman, Develops “iShoe” to Prevent Falling in Elderlyl
If NASA can fix moonship shaking with shock absorbers, there is no reason why a NASA intern—Erez Lieberman—cannot use the very same technology used by our returning space travelers, to lower statistics for elderly individuals who have high rates of falling, providing a technical warning system before it happens. Called the “iShoe”, the insoles of the person’s shoes are filled with sensors which transmit information on the wearers’ balance.
Lieberman has spent time at NASA working on the balance problems that returning astronauts deal with, being thrown off-kilter by extended stays in a weightless environment. Studying with a joint Harvard-MIT health science and technology program, Lieberman is dedicating himself to this work in memory of his grandmother.
These sensors consist of pressure sensors, a transmitter than can send data to a special device, and a built-in memory. Eventually the data being received will transmit online, allowing the return of a balance assessment. What is planned for future developments from the recent designs are a stimulation of the feet to prevent the person from tumbling, or an alarm going off to inform someone when the person has fallen and is down.
Lieberman’s grandmother had fallen and broke her hip, and died from the fall soon afterwards—giving this NASA intern a goal for his future mission. More than 300,000 hip fractures occur every year, mostly caused by falls and in older women. The ratio is one-out-of-five people with a broken hip will die within the year after the hip breaks. The concern is with the massive numbers of baby-boomers arriving, these numbers could reach up to 650,000, according to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.
But Lieberman says there are no good statistics when it comes to elderly people and poor balance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta say that one in three people age 65 and older will fall every year. Researchers and associated companies are slowly developing new ideas on how to keep older drivers safe, also developing high-tech clothes to monitor conditions such as osteoporosis—such as the AgeLab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Another company, Virginia Tech, has an engineering team designing small electronics to monitor movement—transmitting data—based on the theory that an unstable walking gait can indicate a person has a high risk of walking.
This entry was posted on Thursday, August 28th, 2008 at 10:35 pm and is filed under Mars News, Public Relations, Space Agency News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
