Standing balance therapy through portable and low-cost visual feedback training.

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation Engineering
• Neuroscience
• Biomechanics

Background:

• Individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI) experience impaired sensorimotor integration, leading to balance deficits and falls.
• Current functional electrical stimulation (FES) therapy combined with visual feedback balance training (VFBT) shows promise for improving standing balance in iSCI.
• The high cost and bulkiness of traditional force plates (FP) hinder the widespread clinical and home-based application of FES+VFBT.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of replacing expensive force plates (FP) with an affordable Wii Balance Board (WBB) for FES+VFBT.
• To assess the accuracy of WBB-estimated center of mass (COM) compared to FP-estimated COM.
• To determine if a WBB-based system can generate comparable stimulation patterns for balance rehabilitation.

Main Methods:

• Ten non-injured participants performed balance tasks.
• Center of mass (COM) data was collected simultaneously using a ground force plate (FP) and a Wii Balance Board (WBB).
• Prediction error and correlation between WBB- and FP-estimated COM were analyzed.
• Stimulation patterns were compared between WBB- and FP-based approaches.

Main Results:

• The WBB demonstrated low prediction error for COM estimation in both anteroposterior (RMSE: 4.13 ± 0.69 mm) and mediolateral (RMSE: 6.25 ± 1.80 mm) directions.
• High correlation was found between WBB- and FP-estimated COM (r: 0.94 ± 0.02 AP; r: 0.92 ± 0.04 ML).
• Similar stimulation patterns were achieved using the WBB-based system compared to the FP-based system.

Conclusions:

• A Wii Balance Board (WBB) can accurately estimate center of mass (COM) in balance tasks, comparable to traditional force plates (FP).
• The WBB-based functional electrical stimulation (FES) therapy combined with visual feedback balance training (VFBT) system offers a more accessible and cost-effective therapeutic strategy.
• This approach has the potential to significantly improve balance rehabilitation accessibility for individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI) in various settings.