Fall detection is a major challenge in the public healthcare domain, especially in cases of hearing loss which makes people less aware of their environment, so they don’t notice other people, pets or activities going on around them. In addition, hearing loss can decrease spatial awareness. Finally, hearing loss causes the brain to use more resources for hearing and interpreting speech and sound, so fewer resources go toward gait or balance. These factors can all make patients with hearing loss more likely to lose their balance and fall. This has led to the development of a fall detection system in hearing aids.

By using a motion sensor (ADI’s digital triaxial accelerometer ADXL345) hearing aids can automatically detects falls. Fall detection method is easily achieved through a combination of simple threshold and Hidden Markov Model (HMM) algorithm. It reduced the complexity of the hardware and exhibited higher accuracy. We can easily activate this feature in the hearing aid software. You can then enter the details of your preferred contacts in case of a fall. When a fall is detected, you will hear an audio prompt in your hearing aids asking if you have fallen. You then have 60 seconds to stop a message being sent to your emergency contacts. If you have had a fall, you will receive confirmation once each of your alert contacts has been successfully reached.