Assistive vibrotactile biofeedback system for postural control on perturbed surface.

Abstract

Postural control is an important aspect of human locomotion and stance. When inputs to theCentral Nervous System (CNS), consisting of the vestibular, somatosensory, and visual senses,degrade or become dysfunctional, the postural control is a®ected. Biofeedback has beenestablished as a potential intervention method to assist individuals improve postural control, byaugmenting or complementing signals to the CNS. This paper presents an approach to helpachieve better postural control using vibrotactile biofeedback. Tests to monitor postural con-trol, in eyes open and eyes closed states, on a wobble board were introduced to assess theviability of the designed system in providing accurate real-time biofeedback responses. Posturalcontrol was gauged by measuring the angular displacement of perturbations experienced.Perturbations along the anterior and posterior direction are used to determine the level ofprovided vibrotactile biofeedback. The feedback informs subjects the severity of perturbationand direction of imbalance. Signi¯cant improvement (p-value < 0:05) in postural control whileon perturbed surface was detected when the designed biofeedback system was used. Thewearable system was found to be e®ective in improving postural control of the subjects and canbe expanded for rehabilitation, conditioning, and strengthening applications dealing withhuman postural control.