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A Vibrotactile and Plantar Force Measurement-Based Biofeedback System: Paving the Way towards Wearable Balance-Improving Devices

Although biofeedback systems have been used to improve balance with success, they were confined to hospital training applications. Little attempt has been made to investigate the use of in-shoe plantar force measurement and wireless technology to turn hospital training biofeedback systems into weara...

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Autores principales: Ma, Christina Zong-Hao, Wan, Anson Hong-Ping, Wong, Duo Wai-Chi, Zheng, Yong-Ping, Lee, Winson Chiu-Chun
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4721802/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26694399
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s151229883
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author Ma, Christina Zong-Hao
Wan, Anson Hong-Ping
Wong, Duo Wai-Chi
Zheng, Yong-Ping
Lee, Winson Chiu-Chun
author_facet Ma, Christina Zong-Hao
Wan, Anson Hong-Ping
Wong, Duo Wai-Chi
Zheng, Yong-Ping
Lee, Winson Chiu-Chun
author_sort Ma, Christina Zong-Hao
collection PubMed
description Although biofeedback systems have been used to improve balance with success, they were confined to hospital training applications. Little attempt has been made to investigate the use of in-shoe plantar force measurement and wireless technology to turn hospital training biofeedback systems into wearable devices. This research developed a wearable biofeedback system which detects body sway by analyzing the plantar force and provides users with the corresponding haptic cues. The effects of this system were evaluated in thirty young and elderly subjects with simulated reduced foot sensation. Subjects performed a Romberg test under three conditions: (1) no socks, system turned-off; (2) wearing five layers of socks, system turned-off; (3) wearing five layers of socks, and system turned-on. Degree of body sway was investigated by computing the center of pressure (COP) movement measured by a floor-mounted force platform. Plantar tactile sensation was evaluated using a monofilament test. Wearing multiple socks significantly decreased the plantar tactile sensory input (p < 0.05), and increased the COP parameters (p < 0.017), indicating increased postural sway. After turning on the biofeedback system, the COP parameters decreased significantly (p < 0.017). The positive results of this study should inspire future development of wearable plantar force-based biofeedback systems for improving balance in people with sensory deficits.
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spelling pubmed-47218022016-01-26 A Vibrotactile and Plantar Force Measurement-Based Biofeedback System: Paving the Way towards Wearable Balance-Improving Devices Ma, Christina Zong-Hao Wan, Anson Hong-Ping Wong, Duo Wai-Chi Zheng, Yong-Ping Lee, Winson Chiu-Chun Sensors (Basel) Article Although biofeedback systems have been used to improve balance with success, they were confined to hospital training applications. Little attempt has been made to investigate the use of in-shoe plantar force measurement and wireless technology to turn hospital training biofeedback systems into wearable devices. This research developed a wearable biofeedback system which detects body sway by analyzing the plantar force and provides users with the corresponding haptic cues. The effects of this system were evaluated in thirty young and elderly subjects with simulated reduced foot sensation. Subjects performed a Romberg test under three conditions: (1) no socks, system turned-off; (2) wearing five layers of socks, system turned-off; (3) wearing five layers of socks, and system turned-on. Degree of body sway was investigated by computing the center of pressure (COP) movement measured by a floor-mounted force platform. Plantar tactile sensation was evaluated using a monofilament test. Wearing multiple socks significantly decreased the plantar tactile sensory input (p < 0.05), and increased the COP parameters (p < 0.017), indicating increased postural sway. After turning on the biofeedback system, the COP parameters decreased significantly (p < 0.017). The positive results of this study should inspire future development of wearable plantar force-based biofeedback systems for improving balance in people with sensory deficits. MDPI 2015-12-15 /pmc/articles/PMC4721802/ /pubmed/26694399 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s151229883 Text en © 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons by Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Ma, Christina Zong-Hao
Wan, Anson Hong-Ping
Wong, Duo Wai-Chi
Zheng, Yong-Ping
Lee, Winson Chiu-Chun
A Vibrotactile and Plantar Force Measurement-Based Biofeedback System: Paving the Way towards Wearable Balance-Improving Devices
title A Vibrotactile and Plantar Force Measurement-Based Biofeedback System: Paving the Way towards Wearable Balance-Improving Devices
title_full A Vibrotactile and Plantar Force Measurement-Based Biofeedback System: Paving the Way towards Wearable Balance-Improving Devices
title_fullStr A Vibrotactile and Plantar Force Measurement-Based Biofeedback System: Paving the Way towards Wearable Balance-Improving Devices
title_full_unstemmed A Vibrotactile and Plantar Force Measurement-Based Biofeedback System: Paving the Way towards Wearable Balance-Improving Devices
title_short A Vibrotactile and Plantar Force Measurement-Based Biofeedback System: Paving the Way towards Wearable Balance-Improving Devices
title_sort vibrotactile and plantar force measurement-based biofeedback system: paving the way towards wearable balance-improving devices
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4721802/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26694399
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s151229883
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