Fall risk application showcased at Medica

Instituto de Biomecánica (IBV) presented its latest services, products and future developments applied to the healthcare sector at Medica in Dusseldorf.

One of the main objectives of IBV at this event was to internationalise its technologies for the healthcare sector. Its biomechanical application FallSkip allows clinicians to evaluate fall risk in older adults, attributed to their functional state.

60,000 elderly people die every year in the world because of falls and, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), every 11 seconds an older adult is treated in the emergency department because of falls. 

FallSkip assesses the overall risk of falling by combining the result of the biomechanical test with the main risk factors: age, gender and patient history of falls. The fall risk result is available immediately after the test; “providing an accurate, fast and intuitive assessment on a single screen,” according to the head of innovation in biomechanical assessment of IBV, David Garrido

FallSkip allows professionals to screen objectively the risk level of each patient, enables to undertake preventive and customised clinical interventions and, finally, reduces costs stemmed from social or surgical interventions associated to falls.

Garrido added: "This device has been designed to be used by healthcare personnel in the clinical setting, where objectivity and time-saving provide a great added value to the clinical protocol."