Space technology 'could help reduce fall risks in elderly patients'

Scientists from the US are investigating whether they can use technology designed to help astronauts recover from time spent in space to help reduce fall risks among elderly people.

The Associated Press reported that Erez Lieberman, a graduate student working on a joint project at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, developed the so-called 'ishoe' after spending time as an intern at NASA.

The ishoe uses an insole that features a host of sensors, which can analyse how well a person is balancing.

"You gradually get worse and worse at balancing," Mr Lieberman told the news agency. "If you know the problem is there, you can start addressing the problem."

Dr Robert Lindsay, a professor of medicine at Columbia University, added that a system that gave medical professionals more information about the balance of elderly patients could be used very effectively to reduce the risks of falls.

"If they have a sensor that can detect differences in balance, it is fairly easy to train the elderly, using physical therapy, to improve their balance," he concluded.

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