Design of Wearable Product for Protecting Pelvis from Falls

Abstract

The aim of this study is to design a wearable product for protecting pelvis from falls. In this product, an airbag cushion system was applied to absorb falling impact energy from falls. Korea became an ‘ageing society’ (defined as a society of more than 7% of elderly population) in 2000 and is expected to be going into an 'aged society' (more than 14% of elderly population) in 2018 and a 'super aged' (more than 20% of elderly population) in 2026. Falls can be occurred in all life-cycle. In particular old people over 65 years have more experiences of falls. The elderly have various forms of physical and mental degeneration and so they can easily meet a fall by tripping over a stone, slipping, etc. In fact, fall and slip account for 55.3 percent of all accidents in case of the elderly in Korea. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a product to prevent the elderly's injury from falls. Wearable airbag cushion system will be developed in this study and firstly its design was developed. The characteristics of elderly falls were identified from some previous studies and design requirements considering the characteristics were proposed. Finally, the design of pelvic airbag cushion system for absorbing falling impact energy was developed.

Keywords: Pelvic Airbag Cushion System, Falls, The Elderly, Design, Wearable

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe100541