Abstract: Gerontechnology innovation for the elderly is an important way to deal with the aging of the population and the main support sensor is an important technical field of gerontechnology innovation for the elderly. This paper uses the methods of scientometric analysis, social network and cluster analysis to analyze the field of old sensor technology from five aspects: growth and spatial distribution, distribution of patentees and authors of scientific and technological literature, core patent distribution, technical focus and competitive situation. The research performs a panoramic interpretation to reveal the current research status in the field of old sensor technology, and fully demonstrates the competitive landscape in this field. The study finds out that the sensor technology field for the elderly is currently in a period of development, and Japanese companies dominate the ranking of patentees, while the authors of scientific and technological literature are dominated by European and American countries, and Japan and the United States have the most highly-cited patents and high-value patents, the hotspots are mainly in the fields of electrical physics and medical and health, and the research frontiers are mainly focused on smart home, electronic medical, fall risk assessment and gait analysis. This study also reveals problems in Chinese sensor technology innovation, and provides decision-making suggestions for sensor technology innovation.

Key words: the Elderly, Sensors, Social Network Analysis, Competitive Strength