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Maintaining balance is actually accomplished through
the use of three body systems: visual, vestibular,
and proprioception. Using our visual system,
we rely on our eyes to help keep us orientated with
our surroundings. The vestibular systems uses
the fluid in your inner ear as it actually acts
similarly to an air bubble in a
level.
Proprioception refers to your body’s ability to
physically feel the things around it, for example
feeling the cushion of thick carpet under your feet.
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Accurately assess balance with
Bertec's Balance Plate |
Many
things can affect our ability to balance.
Ailments such as Parkinson’s disease, Ménière’s
disease, labyrinthitis, and stroke can rob a person
of his balance. Aging can also affect balance.
As we age, our nerves, muscles, and joints may
become weaker and less responsive. Other
conditions like getting a new prosthetic or orthotic
may influence balance (hopefully for the better).
Though balance is relatively easy to influence, it
is not as easy to accurately assess.
To assess balance, doctors, physical therapists, and
clinicians have many tests from which to choose.
The problem with most tests is that they do not
offer a quantifiable assessment that can be compared
to past performances or others’ performances.
Computerized posturography is a balance test that
gives a physician a postural stability score under
various testing conditions, and it allows that score
to be easily compared. |
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Balance Systems
When
we are standing still, we are actually swaying even
though we may not realize it. This amount of
sway is called postural stability, and that
stability correlates with our ability to remain
upright. Bertec’s
BalanceCheck™ computerized posturography systems
accurately measure the amount of sway, provide a
balance score, and then compare that score to the
scores of age-matched peers.
BalanceCheck™
assesses postural sway using four protocols.
Individuals stand as still as possible on the
balance platform for ten seconds at a time for each
condition – eyes open, flat surface; eyes closed,
flat surface; eyes open, perturbed (foam) surface;
and eyes closed, perturbed (foam) surface.
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*Umbrellas not included.
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These
protocols are designed in such a way that they are
individually testing each of the body systems
responsible for maintaining balance.
Fortunately balance lost can often be regained with
BalanceCheck™ Trainer. BalanceCheck™
Trainer includes a variety of customizable protocols
focusing on functional-based rehabilitation.
All protocols use visual biofeedback to present
real-time feedback to the patient. The
training protocols include exercises for static
balance, dynamic balance, and limits of stability.
By learning to move his center of pressure to
desired target areas (stationary or mobile), the
patient regains balance.
To
read support for BalanceCheck™, please read the Amin
and Girardi papers in our
Research Publications section.
Bertec’s devotion to fall prevention and balance
improvement goes beyond our equipment. We
strive to increase the awareness of the seriousness
of falls and the treatability of balance disorders.
As such, we are a member of the national
Falls Free
Coalition and the Falls Prevention Coalition of
Central Ohio, and we sponsor a research competition offering our BalanceCheck™equipment as awards.
[1] Office of
Statistics and Programming, National Center for
Injury Prevention and Control, CDC
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