Bluetooth wireless data transfer, tablet computing, and an array of body-worn sensors are part of the high technology engineered into the QTUG, a new mobility and falls risk assessment system that will be marketed via a partnership between Intel-GE Care Innovations and Kinesis Health Technologies.

The QTUG (Quantitative Timed Up and Go) assessment was built to allow effective evaluation of therapy services provided, and provide insight to clinicians and health plans about how the level of subsequent therapy a patient requires should be increased or decreased, according to a media release from Revive-Health for Care Innovations.

Intended to provide a comprehensive view of an individual’s risk of falling, the QTUG is said to provide an exact, quantitative evaluation of the multiple dimensions that comprise an individual’s probability of a trip or fall. According to the Revive-health for Care Innovations release the system offers utility to professionals who work in healthcare settings and assess fall risk, such as nurses and falls specialists.

The release characterizes the QTUG as a system that uses body-worn triaxial gyroscopes and accelerometers mounted on each leg, combined with signal processing and machine learning methods. According to the company, the combination of this technology provides quantitative assessment of mobility and falls risk, in addition to statistical comparisons against a large reference population.

[Sources: Intel-GE Care Innovations, Kinesis Health Technologies]