# US 10,309,980 B2 · Fall detection system using a combination of accelerometer, audio input and magnetometer > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,309,980 B2 - Document ID: US10309980B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/499,625 - Filed: 2017-04-27 - Published: 2017-11-16 - Granted: 2019-06-04 - Earliest claimed: 2010-10-04 - Assignees: Nortek Security & Control LLC - Applicants: Nortek Security & Control LLC - Inventors: Ram David Adva Fish; Henry Messenger; Leonid Baryudin; Soroush Salehian Dardashti; Evgenia Goldshtein - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10309980B2 ## CPC - G01P 1/07: Indicating devices, e.g. for remote indication (indicating working conditions of vehicles G07C5/00) - H04M 1/72421: with automatic activation of emergency service functions, e.g. upon sensing an alarm - H04W 4/90: Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS] - H04M 2201/40: using speech recognition - H04M 2250/02: including a Bluetooth® interface - H04M 2250/12: including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion - G01P: MEASURING LINEAR OR ANGULAR SPEED, ACCELERATION, DECELERATION, OR SHOCK; INDICATING PRESENCE, ABSENCE, OR DIRECTION, OF MOVEMENT (measuring or recording blood flow A61B5/02, A61B8/06; monitoring speed or deceleration of electrically-propelled vehicles B60L3/00; vehicle lighting systems adapted to indicate speed B60Q1/54; determining position or course in navigation, measuring ground distance in geodesy or surveying G01C; combined measuring devices for measuring two or more variables of movement G01C23/00; measuring velocity of sound G01H; measuring velocity of light G01J7/00; measuring direction or velocity of solid objects by reception or emission of radiowaves or other waves and based on propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effect, propagation time, direction of propagation, G01S; measuring speed of nuclear radiation G01T; measuring acceleration of gravity G01V; {measuring or recording the speed of trains B61L23/00; speed indicators incorporated in motor vehicles B60K35/00; measuring frequency or phase G01R; traffic control G08G}) - H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08) - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract A wearable device for detecting a user state is disclosed. The wearable device includes an accelerometer for measuring an acceleration of a user, a magnetometer for measuring magnetic field associated with the user's change of orientation, a microphone for receiving audio, a memory for storing the audio, and at least one processor communicatively connected to the accelerometer, the magnetometer, the microphone, and the memory. The processor is identified to declare a measured acceleration as a suspected user state, and to categorize the suspected user state based on the stored audio as one of an activity of daily life (ADL), a confirmed user state, or an inconclusive event. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An apparatus wearable by a user for detecting a user state, comprising: an accelerometer; a magnetometer; a microphone; memory; and at least one processor communicatively connected to the accelerometer, the magnetometer, the microphone, and the memory, and configured to: identify a suspected user state based on an acceleration measured by the accelerometer and a change of orientation measured by the magnetometer; categorize the suspected user state as one of an activity of daily life (ADL), a confirmed user state indicating that a fall has occurred, and an inconclusive event; transmit at least one of the measured acceleration and the change of orientation to a cloud computing system; and receive a re-confirmation or change of classification from the cloud computing system based on the at least one of the measured acceleration and the change of orientation. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit audio received by the microphone and stored in the memory to the cloud computing system. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to extract at least one feature from the stored audio and at least one of the measured acceleration or the measured change of orientation. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the at least one feature is an inter-signal dynamic property. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the inter-signal dynamic property is based on relationships between audio energy and physical movement. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the inter-signal dynamic property is one of elapsed time between acceleration and audio peaks and acceleration and rotation rate peaks. ### Claim 7 (depends on 2) The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive the re-confirmation or change of classification from the cloud computing system based on the stored audio and the at least one of the measured acceleration and the change of orientation. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The apparatus of claim 7, wherein categorizing the suspected user state based on the stored audio comprises an opt-out mechanism wherein specific sound patterns are used to assess the suspected user state as an ADL. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The apparatus of claim 7, wherein categorizing the suspected user state based on the stored audio comprises an opt-in mechanism wherein specific sound are detected and employed to confirm that the fall has occurred. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a gyroscope communicatively connected to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to calculate the change of orientation from measurements from one or more of the gyroscope, the magnetometer, and the accelerometer. ### Claim 11 A computer implemented method performed by an apparatus wearable by a user for detecting a fall of a user, the method comprising: measuring an acceleration of the user; measuring a magnetic field associated with the user and calculating an orientation of the user based on the measured magnetic field; identifying, by a processor, the measured acceleration and the calculated change of orientation of the user as a suspected fall; categorizing, by the processor, the suspected fall as one of an activity of daily life (ADL), a confirmed fall, and an inconclusive event; transmitting at least one of the measured acceleration and the calculated change of orientation to a cloud computing system; and receiving a re-confirmation or change of classification from the cloud computing system based on the at least one of the measured acceleration and the calculated change of orientation. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving and storing audio and transmitting the audio to the cloud computing system. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising extracting at least one feature from the stored audio and at least one of the measured acceleration and the calculated change of orientation. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein: the at least one feature is an inter-signal dynamic property is based on relationships between audio energy and physical movement; and the inter-signal dynamic property is one of elapsed time between acceleration and audio peaks and acceleration and rotation rate peaks. ### Claim 15 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising receiving the re-confirmation or change of classification from the cloud computing system based on the stored audio and the at least one of the measured acceleration and the calculated change of orientation. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein categorizing the suspected fall based on the stored audio comprises an opt-out mechanism wherein specific sound patterns are used to assess the suspected fall as an ADL. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein categorizing the suspected fall based on the stored audio comprises an opt-in mechanism wherein specific sounds characteristics are detected and employed to confirm that a fall has happened. ### Claim 18 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, further comprising calculating the change of orientation of the user from measurements from a gyroscope, the magnetometer, and the accelerometer. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, further comprising extracting at least one feature from the calculated change of orientation. ### Claim 20 A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processor included in an apparatus wearable by a user, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: measuring an acceleration of the user; measuring a magnetic field associated with the user and calculating of a change of orientation of the user based on the measured magnetic field; identifying, by the processor, the measured acceleration and the calculated change of orientation of the user as a suspected fall; categorizing, by the processor, the suspected fall as one of an activity of daily life (ADL), a confirmed fall, and an inconclusive event; transmitting at least one of the measured acceleration and the calculated change of orientation to a cloud computing system; and receiving a re-confirmation or change of classification from the cloud computing system based on the at least one of the measured acceleration and the change of orientation.