Machine-learning algorithms estimate the balance state of the user in real time to predict their future imbalances or falls.
A new robot has been developed by researchers in Singapore that can detect if someone loses balance and prevent them from falling.
The device can be used to help users with walking and balance issues and stop falls, which is the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths worldwide according to the World Health Organization.
Called the Mobile Robotic Balance Assistant (MRBA) or “Mr Bah”, the robot uses inbuilt sensors to instantly detect a loss of balance and catch the user with the attached safety harness that goes around their hips.
Machine-learning algorithms estimate the balance state of the user in real time to predict their future imbalances or falls.
Researchers at Nanyang Technological University and Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore want to reach elderly populations with the device.
The greatest number of fatal falls are suffered by adults over 60 years of age.
The lead researcher Wei Tech Ang said the machine is also meant to aid rehabilitation from injuries and keep patients active.
“A lot of these patients, when they are fearful of falling down, they don’t walk they just sit down all day,” Ang said.
“And because of that, they go to a downward spiral.”
29 participants used the robot for three days in initial clinical trials and it successfully prevented every fall.
The participants of the trials included people with brain and spinal cord injuries.
After they complete more trials in different settings, the team wants to get “Mr Bah” approved by regulatory bodies around the world to start selling the devices.
They will need to garner millions in funds to do it, but the goal is to have a high-tech version of the robot available to hospitals and an at-home version for personal use.
The idea of a robot assistant for the prevention of falls first began after Ang saw his own mother struggle with her balance.
“The intent was for my mother,” he said.
“My mother was a frequent faller, as they may call it.
“She fell about 10 years ago…that’s a point when I started to have this idea of a robot to assist so that people don’t fall at home.”
He said once the robots become publicly available, he hopes the first one can go to her.
