Wireless vibrotactile feedback system for postural response improvement

This paper presents an evaluation of a real-time wireless body sensor network for the improvement of postural balance response. The system senses body sway using accelerometers and provides vibrotactile feedback to multiple points on the inner forearm, allowing the subject to obtain a clear indication of imbalanced movements within their center of gravity and respective surroundings. The wireless body sensor network is ergonomic, allowing the subject to feel comfortable and experience unconfined movements during its use. The system transmits realtime data to a local host computer, where the data is recorded and displayed graphically. This recorded data monitors the subject's progress and allows any sudden falling movements to be overseen by care-givers. Pilot data measuring postural responses to perturbations with and without the system are conducted. Results obtained suggest that this system can improve postural responses, where it is demonstrated that such an intelligent and user-friendly system can be applied to rehabilitate the loss of balance in hospital and home-care patients.