Assessment of Postural Stability Using the Method of Postural Somatooscilography

The aim of article is to present new method for evaluating the postural stability using oscillating platform. Proposed methods are alternative to basic methods which are usually parts of the commercial posturography systems. The methods for calculating the postural parameters have been designed in order to objectively quantify and classify the ability of postural stabilization on a standardized oscillatory platform, and determine differences in the postural stabilization of motor function in healthy people and in people with postural instability. The Posturomed (Haider Bioswing GmbH) and biaxial accelerometer sensor were used for measurement the body acceleration during single leg stance provocation test. The postural somatooscilogram has been defined, which shows accelerations of platform, in horizontal plane in both anteroposterior and mediolateral directions over time. Two parameters, Average Damping Coefficient (ADC) and Average Coefficient of Damped Energy (ACDE), were used to evaluate postural stability. The proposed method was implemented in MatLab sw. Patients with postural disorders and control group of healthy subjects were measured. Statistically significant differences have been observed in postural stability between independent postural stable group and postural unstable groups. Based on the findings, we can say that the presented method allows a complex analysis of the single leg stance in patients with postural balance disorders in clinical practice.