• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.3 no.3
• /
• pp.192-198
• /
• 2012

Objectives: Slip and fall accidents in the workplace are one of the top causes of work related fatalities and injuries. Previous studies have indicated that fall risk was related to postural and dynamic stability. However, the usage of this theoretical relationship was limited by laboratory based measuring instruments. The current study proposed a new method for stability assessment by use of inertial measurement units (IMUs). Methods: Accelerations at different body parts were recorded by the IMUs. Postural and local dynamic stability was assessed from these measures and compared with that computed from the traditional method. Results: The results demonstrated: 1) significant differences between fall prone and healthy groups in IMU assessed dynamic stability; and 2) better power of discrimination with multi stability index assessed by IMUs. Conclusion: The findings can be utilized in the design of a portable screening or monitoring tool for fall risk assessment in various industrial settings.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
• /
• v.43 no.2
• /
• pp.39-47
• /
• 2020

Postural stability can reduce the likelihood of critical slip and fall accidents in workplaces. The present study aimed to analyze the effect of shoes type on the ability of postural control during quiet standing. The effect of workload on the body balance was also of primary concern. Thirteen healthy male undergraduate students participated voluntarily in the experimental study. Standing on a force plate with wearing slippers, sports shoes, or safety shoes, two-axis coordinate on subjects' center of pressures (COP) was obtained in the two levels, rest and workload. For the workload level, subjects performed treadmill exercise to reach the predetermined level of physical workload. By converting the position coordinates of COPs, the postural sway length in both anterior-posterior (AP) axis and medio-lateral (ML) axis was assessed. ANOVA results showed that, in AP direction, wearing slippers significantly increased the postural sway length compared to wearing sports shoes or safety shoes. No significant difference in the mean sway length in AP axis was observed between sports shoes and safety shoes. In ML direction, both the workload and the shoes type did not significantly affect the mean length of postural sway. However, the postural sway length increased marginally with the slippers especially during the workload condition. This study explains wearing slippers may interfere with the ability of postural control during quiet standing. Physical workload decreases the ability of postural stability further.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.13 no.10
• /
• pp.9-18
• /
• 2013

In this paper, we analyzed the effects of game-based visual feedback training on postural balance control in young adults and older adults. We provided postural balance training by 23 young adults and 14 older adults and for four weeks in fifth minute a day and three days a week using IBalance(Cybermedic Inc., Korea). We evaluated the ability of postural balance using balance SD(Biodex, medicalscience Inc., USA) for the validation of game contents based on visual feedback training program. The results showed that postural stability and limits of stability of young adults and older adults were improved significantly before and after the training(p<0.05). Thus, the games of postural balance encouraged anterior, posterior, medial, lateral and multidirectional weight shifting regarding postural balance. Our study indicates that postural balance training of visual feedback based game could be adapted for improving postural balance. Moreover, we could develope of game contents for individuals and various ages for effective application of this game-based visual feedback training.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
• /
• v.1997 no.11
• /
• pp.39-43
• /
• 1997

Posturography stands or quantitative assessment of body postural stability analysis. The present study developed a balance plate system to monitor patient's center of pressure (COP) movement and to analyze its stability. An equilateral triangular shaped plate was made of duralumin and forces were measured on the three vertices of the plate using industrial load cells. Specially designed electronic circuit picked up force signals ed into data acquisition system to calculate the cartesian coordinates of COP. COP calculation error was less than 2%. The force signals enabled to compute stability measures, which consisted of a variety of clinical parameters related to postural stability. Clinical experiments were carefully designed and performed on 40 normal subjects. The results were that 1) postural stability decreased with age and 2) the best parameters were those of posture deviation measures. A customized PC-based software package was developed to apply the present technique with a great convenience to monitoring and analyzing postural stability in an accurate and quantitative way.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.427-432
• /
• 2016

Objective: The goal of this study was to systematically investigate the postural stability of dancers by providing unexpected perturbations. Method: Six female dancers and college students participated in this study. Unpredictable wait-pull balance perturbations in the anterior direction were provided to the participants during standing. Three different perturbation intensities (low, moderate, and high intensity) were used by increasing perturbation forces. Spatial and temporal stability of postural control were measured by using margin of stability (MoS) and time to contact (TtC), respectively. Results: Both MoS and TtC at moderate intensity were significantly greater in the dancer group than in the control group, but no significant differences were found at low and high intensities between the groups. Conclusion: The present study showed spatial and temporal stability of dynamic postural control in dancers. We found that the dancers were more spatially and temporally stable than the ordinary participants in response to unexpected external perturbation when the perturbation intensity was moderate at two extreme intensity levels (low and high).

• Physical Therapy Korea
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.61-71
• /
• 2012

In daily activities, people often perform two or more tasks simultaneously. This is referred to as dual-tasking or multi-tasking. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of performing dual tasks while using a mobile phone on static and dynamic postural stability. Twenty-four subjects were asked to stand on a force plate and then instructed to perform a balance task only (BT), a balance task while listening to music (BTL), a balance task while talking on the mobile phone (BTT), and a balance task while sending text messages (BTS). We used the BioRescue$^{(R)}$ to measure postural sway and limit of stability for static and dynamic postural stability. Also the star excursion balance test (SEBT) was used to measure dynamic postural stability. A one-way ANOVA with repeated measures was used to compare the effects of the BT, BTL, BTT, and BTS. The Bonferroni's post hoc test was used to determine the differences among four tasks. Carrying out the BTS significantly decreased the limit of stability compared with carrying out the BT, BTL, and BTT (p<.05). In limit of stability, total surface area of BTT was more significantly decreased than that of BT and total surface area of BTS was more decreased than that of BT, BTL and BTT (p<.05). In the SEBT, the BTS displayed significantly smaller reach distance values compared with the BT or BTL (p<.05). These findings suggest that performing the balance task while sending text message on the mobile phone decreases dynamic postural stability, whereas performing the same task while listening to music using the mobile phone does not. Therefore, it requires more attention to maintain dynamic balance while sending text messages.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.2314-2322
• /
• 2021

Background: Back pain is associated with a high risk of recurrence. Various physical therapy techniques for back pain have been studied, including reprogramming the central nervous system by integrating sensation and motion with sensory exercise training. Objectives: To aimed verify the effectiveness of sensorimotor training in improving postural stability and pain levels. Design: A randomized controlled trial. Methods: The study population was randomized into a sensory exercise training group and trunk stabilization training group and treated three times a week for 4 weeks. Each group took part in sensorimotor training for 15 minutes or lumbar stabilization exercise for 15 minutes. Results: After the intervention both groups showed Improvements in the variables. There was a significant difference in the dynamic postural stability, limit of stability, and modified visual analog scale scores in the sensorimotor training group compared to the lumbar stabilization exercise group (P<.05). Conclusion: Sensorimotor training appears to be an effective physical therapy exercise program that can be applied in patients with low back pain to improve muscle control ability.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.419-422
• /
• 2012

Purpose: Malalignment of the lower limbs may increases the difficulty of maintaining equilibrium. The purpose of this study was to study the effects of genu varum and poor posture in the sagittal plane on postural stability. Methods: We had 27 subjects with varus and 27 normal subjects participate in this study. Subjects for whom the distance between the medial epicondyles in the knee joint was more than 3 cm were classified as varus group, and subjects for whom the distance was less than 3 cm were classified as normal group. The measurements of static and dynamic stability were used overall stability index (OSI), anterioposterior stability index (APSI), and mediolateral stability index (MLSI) using a Biodex balance system. Results: When measuring the static stability index, there were significant differences in the mediolateral stability index between the varus and control groups. When measuring the dynamic stability index, there were significant differences in the overall, anteriorposterior, and mediolateral stability index between the varus and control groups. These results demonstrated that genu varum affects mediolateral movement in static stability, and overall, anterioposterior and mediolateral movements in dynamic stability. Conclusion: As genu varum affects static and dynamic stability in young adults, it increases the risk of injuries or falls. Exercise and surgery are required for realigning the genu varum. Future studies about postural stability in young children and elderly people who have a risk of falls due to lower postural control ability, are needed, as well as in young adults.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
• /
• v.13 no.9
• /
• pp.843-850
• /
• 2007

This paper proposes a somatosensory stimulation system for the improvement of postural stability using vibration as somatosensory stimulation. This system consists of vibratory stimulation and postural response measurement. To evaluate this system, the center of pressure(COP) was closely observed in turn with simultaneous or separate mechanical vibratory stimulations to flexor ankle muscles (tibialis anterior, triceps surae) and two plantar zones on both feet while standing on a stable and an unstable support. The simultaneous vibratory stimulations cleared influenced postural stability and the effects of vibrations were higher with the unstable support. In separate vibratory stimulations, the extent of the COP sway reduced when the direction of the vibratory stimulations and that of the inclination of body coincided for flexor ankle muscle stimulations. In the contrary, the extent of the COP sway increased when the direction of the stimulations and that of body inclination coincided for plantar zone stimulations. These results can be useful for the development of rehabilitation systems that utilizes somatosensory inputs for postural balance.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.30 no.6
• /
• pp.521-528
• /
• 2009

This study is about to evaluation of postural stability according to characteristics of electrical stimulation on the ankle muscles. We measured body sway(center of pressure, COP) when various parameters of electrical stimulation was applied to ankle muscles in stable and unstable posture. Subjects consisted of 10 young adults, and electrical stimulation was delivered on right and left of tibialis anterior and Achilles tendon. The body sway was measured during electrical stimulation of three duty cycle and frequencies in stable posture and three amplitudes of sensory threshold in unstable posture. Consequently, the COP Shift is higher during electrical stimulation of 1/30(duty ratio) and 100Hz(frequency) in stable posture. In unstable posture, 100% amplitude of sensory threshold induced postural stability. These findings are important for the rehabilitation system of postural stability and the use of electrical stimulation as somatosensory information.