Advanced Sensing Technology for Falls Prevention and Rehabilitation

Dear Colleagues,

Despite the significant impact of the coronavirus pandemic, lifespans are getting longer while healthy life expectancy is not growing at the same pace. At the same time, the low birth rate is steadily increasing the old-age dependency ratio. Healthcare costs have been rising for decades and healthcare systems will have, by force of circumstances, to rely more and more on Tele-health and to shift from treatment towards prevention of age-related medical conditions. Falls and consequences of falls at old age are very resource demanding. We know that about 30%of falls can be prevented, but current guidelines for fall risk assessment have shown relatively low performance and there are few risk-screening tools available that have been adequately validated. Now more than ever, there is the need to develop, deliver, and put into practice innovative and effective solutions for falls prevention and rehabilitation. Digital tools based on advance sensing technologies are the enabling factor.

The goal of this Special Issue is to reflect the state of the art in this domain. The focus is on physical sensors such as temperature, optoelectronic, mechanical, MEMS & NEMS, magnetic, and others, but emerging technologies such as microwave sensors and photonic sensors are welcome too.

This Issue must clearly show the vital importance of sensing technologies in:

• the assessment of the risk of falling in supervised and unsupervised settings;
• the identification and (continuous) monitoring of risk factors (motor and non-motor biomarkers);
• the improvement of clinical practice of rehabilitation;
• the delivery of safe and effective rehabilitation programs at home in unsupervised or remotely supervised settings (continuity of care).

The main questions to which the Special Issue intends to answer are: 1) is the maturity level of current solutions high enough?; and 2) can we provide evidence on their efficacy, effectiveness, and sustainability in a real-world setting? We need researchers, professionals, and relevant stakeholders to share their best practices.

Dr. Sabato Mellone
Guest Editor

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