Find optimal equilibration performance

Mobility plays a key role in longevity and in the prevention of certain life-changing illnesses. Good mobility nevertheless requires excellent static and dynamic balance.

Balance depends on the integration of three types of sensory information: vestibular inputs, proprioceptive inputs, and visual inputs. These different sensory information are processed in the vestibular nuclei, the thalamus and various cortical areas. There is a redundancy of different sensory information at each level of the central nervous system, from the brainstem to the cortex, to promote balance in the movements of the head and body in space.

The quantification of the balance is essential because it will allow to better determine the degree of mobility of the patient, essential to its quality of life and also to predict its potential risks of falls at 10 years, falls whose fatal risks are known to average or short term.

We have developed a U_Balance report which assesses the patients’ equilibrium performance irrespective of their clinical history and their history in the field of the inner ear. There is occasionally a Posturography platform capable of recording the movements of the foot pressure center and the center of gravity of the body. The balance is then recorded in different visual and proprioceptive sensory conditions. However, this assessment on the platform does not take into account the patient’s cognitive abilities, his ability to concentrate, his stress management, his mobility, his energy level, his joint stiffness, his muscular strength. and his balance during the walk.

In addition, new technologies using connected objects (accelerometers, android systems) make it possible to quantify with great accuracy the postural oscillations in different static conditions (standing up on foam mats) or dynamic conditions (such as walking).

The U-Balance assessment tries to take all of these elements together

12 items included

• A dizziness questionnaire Handicap Inventory. This questionnaire gives a score that takes into account the mobility of patients.
• An assessment of the Body Mass Index (BMI).
• A quantification of the patient’s stress management abilities and concentration abilities by measuring his heart rate using a connected sensor.
• A quantification of the function of the vestibular system in the three planes of space by Eye Tracking (videohead impulse test).
• An evaluation of the quality of proprioception at the level of the lower limbs using a vibrator at 50 Hz which gives illusions of movements and at the end of the stimulation a displacement of the quantifiable body in the sagittal plane.
• A study of visual dependence by study of the balance on foam carpet while a visual scene moving to 3D in low speed scrolls in front of him using a virtual reality mask.
• An assessment of muscle strength in the quadriceps using an accelerometer object placed at the lumbar level.
• A study of the balance on one foot, eyes open by fixing a target in front of him at 1m50 and eyes closed, and the quantification on 30 seconds of the postural oscillations using an accelerometer maintained at the lumbar level.
• An on-site trampling test with eyes closed for 50 steps.
• An android system placed on the legs allows to calculate the frequency, the amplitude of the steps and the possible stops in the silence and during the answer to questions delivered via a listener (dynamic equilibrium and mental overload).
• An assessment of the subject’s energy level by evaluating the height of three jumps made on the spot by the subject with a sensor placed at the level of the back.

At the end of this assessment, a score between 0 and 10 is assigned for the following items

• Vestibular function
• Proprioceptive function
• Energy
• Muscular force
• Cognition-stress
• Uni-balance and bi-podal
• Visual sensory dependence
• Proprioceptive dependence

The physiological age is a function of the equilibration performance and the mobility – energy profile of each.
This physiological age may correspond to biological age.
However, sometimes it may be different: the patient may have a younger physiological age or higher.

The U-Balance Assessment detects the sensory and motor deficiencies involved in balance using connected tools. After a personalized assessment, he proposes a homework adapted to the perceptive-motor profile of the patients. It focuses on rehabilitation therapists trained in the treatment of postural instability.

The goal is to allow you to find optimal balancing performance (comparison balance physiological age and real age balance).