title: Audio-biofeedback for balance improvement: an accelerometry-based system.
abstract: This paper introduces a prototype audio-biofeedback system for balance improvement through the sonification using trunk kinematic information. In tests of this system, normal healthy subjects performed several trials in which they stood quietly in three sensory conditions while wearing an accelerometric sensory unit and headphones. The audio-biofeedback system converted in real-time the two-dimensional horizontal trunk accelerations into a stereo sound by modulating its frequency, level, and left/right balance. Preliminary results showed that subjects improved balance using this audio-biofeedback system and that this improvement was greater the more that balance was challenged by absent or unreliable sensory cues. In addition, high correlations were found between the center of pressure displacement and trunk acceleration, suggesting accelerometers may be useful for quantifying standing balance.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informatica e Sistemistica, Università di Bologna, Viale Risorgimento 2, 40136 Bologna, Italy. lchiari@deis.unibo.it
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chiari
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dozza
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cappello
authors.forename: Fay B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Horak
authors.forename: Velio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Macellari
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Giansanti
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000162:Acoustics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001676:Biofeedback, Psychology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation; D010865:Pilot Projects; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D011312:Pressure; D014159:Transducers; D014584:User-Computer Interface