Smart Flooring Could Help Prevent Falls and Ease pressure on the NHS

With 219,000 fall-related emergency hospital admissions among people aged 65 and over in England in 2023/24, a new trial at the University of Surrey is exploring how smart flooring could help prevent serious injuries by cushioning falls-possibly easing pressure on the NHS and reshaping the design of hospitals, care homes and even private homes.

In the ongoing study, participants wore reflective body markers that are tracked by infrared cameras, allowing researchers to measure how different floor materials-ranging from soft to hard-affect a person’s balance, movement and stability.The findings will form the foundation for designing new protective flooring that looks and feels like a regular surface but can absorb the impact of a fall.

The team is currently seeking healthy adult volunteers of all ages, especially those aged 65 and over, to participate in the trial.

Silas Purja, Postgraduate Researcher at the University of Surrey’s School of Engineering and lead researcher in the trial, said, “Every year in the UK, hundreds of thousands of older adults experiance a fall-many of which lead to lengthy hospital stays and, tragically, some fatalities. Government figures show that unaddressed fall hazards in the home alone cost the NHS in England around £435 million annually, while fragility fractures-often caused by falls-cost the UK an estimated £4.4 billion each year, including £1.1 billion in social care. To help ease pressure on the health service and protect lives, we’re investigating how different flooring types affect balance-with the goal of supporting t

Smart Flooring to Prevent Falls in Healthcare Settings

A new research project aims to develop smart flooring capable of preventing falls, detecting when they occur, and mitigating impact in healthcare environments. The project brings together an interdisciplinary team of researchers, including Dr. Matthew Oldfield and Dr. Radu Sporea from the University of Surrey, and Dr. Amy Drahota from the University of Portsmouth.

The team is working closely with commercial partners and manufacturers of flooring for healthcare settings and advanced sensor and touch technologies. together they aim to develop an integrated flooring solution that provides passive fall prevention, real-time fall detection and impact protection in one.