Embedded DSP-based Telehealth Radar System for Remote In-door Fall Detection

Telehealth systems and applications are extensively investigated nowadays to enhance the quality-of-care and, in particular, to detect emergency situations and to monitor the well-being of elderly people, allowing them to stay at home independently as long as possible. In this paper, an embedded telehealth system for continuous, automatic, and remote monitoring of real-time fall emergencies is presented and discussed. The system, consisting of a radar sensor and base station, represents a cost-effective and efficient healthcare solution. The implementation of the fall detection data processing technique through a digital signal processor (DSP) together with the management of the communication between radar sensor and base station are detailed. Experimental tests, validated under real circumstances with human subjects, have shown a sensitivity to detect fall events in real-time of 100% without reporting false positives.