Hip Protectors

What are hip protectors?

Hip protectors are devices designed for protecting the hip from fracture in the occasion of fall. It consists of a pair of elastic pants with two pockets on both left and right sides of the hip for the insertion of protecting pads which are usually made of an outer hard plastic shell and inner soft pads. Western researches have demonstrated its effect on preventing hip fractures through attenuating and shunting the impact force directly on the hips as a result of fall in fall-stimulating biomechanical studies. Clinical trials also showed its effect on human subjects for preventing hip fractures and its potential on clinical practice.

Hip protectors for Chinese Elderly

Actually, there are many different types of hip protectors. However, most of them are only suitable for western elderly. They are not fit to Chinese elderly, thus result in low compliance. In order to increase the compliance of hip protectors for the Chinese elderly, we modified the current design of hip protectors.

Features

It is designed according to the body figure of Chinese Elderly
A cushioning materials, silicon, is used to improve comfort
The clothing is used the skin-friendly and easy dry material
Smaller and more flattened design of pads are used so that the hip protectors are less visible and more cosmetic
The cost is nine times cheaper than the current commercial products

You may need hip protectors, if you have:

High fall rate
Osteoporosis
Impaired balance
History of fractures

New generation of hip protectors

Traditional hip protectors are used the protecting pads inserted into the elastic pants by covering over the hip joints for protection. However, Hong Kong has hot and humid weather, tight pants and hard protecting pads make the majority of local users feel uncomfortable and even give up wearing, which led to the low compliance rate and thus cannot serve the propose of hip fracture protection.

In this point of view, we decide to develop the more advanced hip protectors, which are more permeable, convenient, comfortable and meanwhile be able to prevent fractures effectively such that it can avoid low compliance rate and greatly enhance the utilization and effectiveness of the hip protectors among elderly. Therefore, this brings out the idea of developing a airbag hip protecting system on the newest design of hip protectors.

Airbag hip protecting system

The design of this new generation of hip protectors is used the concept of airbag safety system inside vehicles in which airbags are deployed to reduce harm during car crash. The new design of hip protectors look like a belt, which hang around the waist of the elderly. The airbag hip protecting system consists of three components, including a micro-sensor, an inflator, and two airbags covering on both left and right sides of hip joints.

When the sensor detects a fall from the elderly, it will trigger the inflator, which deploys the airbags within 0.3 second. Therefore, the airbags are inflated and work as cushion to protect the hip joints before elderly fall on the ground. This can reduce the impact force and thus reduce the fracture risk.

Design Features

Simple design, only need to hang around the waist, therefore promote easy wearing and improve the ventilation
Because the design improves the ventilation, it also increases the comfort
The design is more flexible, adjustable and suitable to all elderly
Airbag hip protecting system has finished the safety tests, it is proven to reduce the impact force effectively during fall

The airbag hip protecting system is still under development.