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Development of a new training system for improving the postural control ability of elderly adults

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Abstract

This study describes a new training system based on an unstable platform and a visual interactive system, that was designed to improve postural control ability. The training system consists of an unstable platform, a safety harness, a monitoring device, and a personal computer. To confirm the effects of the training system, a performance test and a training effect test were conducted. The performance test included calibration and the test-retest experiments. The training effect test was conducted on elderly adults. The results of the calibration demonstrated that the average deviations of COP (center of pressure) in all of the other directions were all less than 0.4cm. The results of the test-retest experiment demonstrated that the ICC (intraclass correlation coefficient) of repeatability was reflective of excellent reliability in both the COP maintenance test and the COP movement test. The training reduced the COP sway path by 5% and the average distance of the COP sway by 32.4%. The RMS (root mean square) of COP after training was reduced by 24% and 33% in the ML (medio-lateral) and AP (anterior-posterior) directions. The training also caused a 25% reduction in the results of the Timed Up and Go test. The PTBW (peak torque/body weight) value was increased by 31% and 17.5% in the knee and ankle joints. The experimental results suggest that this postural control training system using an unstable platform could be applied to training to improve postural control ability in elderly adults.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, 576-756, Korea

    Yong-Jun Piao

  2. Division of Biomedical Engineering, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, 576-756, Korea

    Tae-Kyu Kwon, Dong-Wook Kim & Nam-Gyun Kim

Authors
  1. Yong-Jun Piao
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  2. Tae-Kyu Kwon
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  3. Dong-Wook Kim
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  4. Nam-Gyun Kim
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tae-Kyu Kwon.

Additional information

This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by Associate Editor Eung-Soo Shin

Yong-Jun Piao received the M.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Chonbuk National University in 2005. His research interests include Postural control, Sensory integration Rehabilitation engineering.

Tae-Kyu Kwon received the Ph.D. degree from Tohoku University in 1999. His research interests include Rehabilitation engineering, Bio-mechatronics.

Dong-Wook Kim received the Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Hokkaido University in 1995. His research interests include Silver engineering, Sensory information engineering.

Nam-Gyun Kim received the Ph.D. degree from University of Strasbourg in 1987. His research interests include Postural control, Rehabilitation engineering.

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Piao, YJ., Kwon, TK., Kim, DW. et al. Development of a new training system for improving the postural control ability of elderly adults. J Mech Sci Technol 23, 324–334 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-009-0109-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-009-0109-x

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