Exercise keeps you fit - but balance can be impaired after intensive physical activity. Researchers at University Medicine Oldenburg want to counteract this dilemma. They are working on an early warning system that - installed on an activity tracker or smartwatch - warns of an increased risk of falling in good time. The Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and the Volkswagen Foundation are funding the project with 452,000 euros as part of the "zukunft.niedersachsen" programme.
Statistically, more than a third of older people fall once a year. How great the individual risk is depends closely on their own health. In principle, however, the risk of falling can be increased for a short period after intense physical activity. The so-called "first ventilatory threshold" is an important indicator. This describes the point in time at which the breathing rate increases measurably and the proportion of carbon dioxide in the exhaled air increases disproportionately compared to the oxygen ingested. "Even in fit senior citizens, their balance temporarily weakens at this moment and their gait pattern changes," explains Dr Jessica Koschate-Storm from the Department of Geriatrics, who is leading the new research project "Personalised diagnostics of critical physical stress in everyday life" together with Prof. Dr Nils Strodthoff and Dr Sandra Hellmers. The result: the risk of falling increases temporarily, even if training and physical activity increase gait safety in the longer term.
So far, measurements that can be used to prove that this load limit has been exceeded have only been possible under laboratory conditions. For example, researchers analyse the exhaled air via a corresponding face mask with an upstream sensor and measure the carbon dioxide content. The Oldenburg team is now researching an approach that is more suitable for everyday use. Koschate-Storm is collaborating with researchers from the Assistance Systems and Medical Technology department on the one hand and the AI4Health department, which is investigating possible applications of artificial intelligence in medicine, on the other. Together, the scientists want to develop AI-supported methods that can also be used to read critical stress in data that modern smartwatches already provide today. The idea: correctly combined and analysed, data on heart activity and movement acceleration measured on the wrist could also show that the first ventilatory threshold has been exceeded. In this case, for example, the smartwatch would issue a warning and call for special attention.
Not only older people with an increased risk of falling could benefit from such technology. Constant measurement of this value is also interesting for athletes. The first ventilatory threshold is also considered an indicator of endurance performance. Real-time information would enable them to adapt their training to their performance on a daily basis.
