Assistive vibrotactile biofeedback system for postural control on perturbed surface

Postural control is an important aspect of human locomotion and stance. When inputs to the Central Nervous System (CNS), consisting of the vestibular, somatosensory, and visual senses, degrade or become dysfunctional, the postural control is affected. Biofeedback has been established as a potential intervention method to assist individuals improve postural control, by augmenting or complementing signals to the CNS. This paper presents an approach to help achieve better postural control using vibrotactile biofeedback. Tests to monitor postural control, in eyes open and eyes closed states, on a wobble board were introduced to assess the viability of the designed system in providing accurate real-time biofeedback responses. Postural control was gauged by measuring the angular displacement of perturbations experienced. Perturbations along the anterior and posterior direction are used to determine the level of provided vibrotactile biofeedback. The feedback informs subjects the severity of perturbation and direction of imbalance. Significant improvement (p-value < 0.05) in postural control while on perturbed surface was detected when the designed biofeedback system was used. The wearable system was found to be effective in improving postural control of the subjects and can be expanded for rehabilitation, conditioning, and strengthening applications dealing with human postural control.