IP Requirement: Emory IP

Experience Requirement:

– Rapid prototyping

– Strong coding background

– UI/UX design

“Fall risk” is a common problem for both patients in the hospital as well as medical providers. For patients, being labeled as a “fall risk” requires them to wear a bracelet which notes this and prevents patients from being able to get out of the bed (for example to use the bathroom or walk in the hallways) without a healthcare provider. This often creates frustration in patients as a sense of their autonomy is taken away, and often times due to other tasks, healthcare providers are unable to assist right away. On the other hand, falls are an important metric to the safety of a hospital. Currently, “fall risks” are determined using scoring systems such as MFS (Morse Fall Scale), which evaluate based on criteria such as recent fall history, need for ambulatory aids, mental status, etc. However, there is a low threshold for being considered a “fall risk” which is no revised over the course of a hospital stay which could be weeks to months. This can often result in future deconditioning in these patients.  

The goal of this project is to create a wearable device that collects various data points throughout the day (ex. BP, HR, etc.) and generates a dynamic fall risk score assessment daily that helps assess if patients are a “fall risk” and provide specific data as to why. This would provide information to both patients and medical staff to help keep patients as safe as possible while also providing them autonomy and identifying areas that can be improved (such as a hypotensive patient requiring IV fluids which would then decrease their “fall risk”).