Design Flow of a Wearable System for Body Posture Assessment and Fall Detection with Android Smartphone

In this paper, we present a design flow of a wearable system for posture assessment and fall detection of a mobile individual using an Android smartphone. The proposed design architecture utilizes the smartphone as data gateway and analyzer in order to provide immediate information to the emergency contact person or a medical facility. We present and analyze the necessary components required to observe body orientation and fall detection. The system is designed to be low power, portable, lightweight and has wireless data communication capability. By capitalizing on multiple types of wireless connections available on the Android smartphone, our design captures posture information and transmit this information to emergency contact person as well as to a central location for data analysis by experts and also for data logging. The posture analyzer and the fall detecting system can be an essential component within a broader wireless body sensor network to monitor a mobile individual who needs constant monitoring and immediate medical treatments.