This disclosure relates to testing apparatus and in particular balance testing apparatus and methods of using same.
Balance tests are used for a variety of purposes and in a variety of different contexts. For example, balance tests may be used after a physical injury or a brain injury to determine impact of the injury and monitor progress after the injury.
A common balance test that is used is the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) which is a quantitative test to assess lower limb injuries, such as ankle sprains. In this assessment, a patient is directed to stand with one foot located at the intersection of eight lines that radiate outward at equal intervals around the patient. The patient must then perform an excursion along each direction independently and lightly touch the toe to the floor as far away from their body as they can without compromising their balance. The practitioner then measures the excursion distance; provided the patient kept their hands on their hips, did not compromise their form or place substantial weight on their excursion foot. The excursion measurement is then repeated in each of the eight directions. The excursion directions are typically indicated by tape that a practitioner places on the floor. This test has largely remained a manual tape-based balance assessment since its inception.
To combat the time burden associated with the SEBT a variation of the test in which the patient only performs excursions in 3 equally spaced directions has been developed. This is typically referred to as the Y-balance test. Some variants of the Y-balance test have transitioned to a system where the patient pushes wooden blocks along each excursion direction in order to indicate the maximum distance of excursion. Although simpler, this Y-balance assessment has still not been widely adopted in clinical practice because of the same spatial and manual burdens associated with the traditional SEBT assessment.
There are alternative tests to assess balance and lower-limb injury such as: non-standardized movement observation, Tinetti balance assessment (sit down and rising balance test), and walking balance assay.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a balance testing apparatus that is quick to set up and easy to use.
A balance testing apparatus for testing balance of a test subject having a stance foot and an excursion foot includes a mat, at least one elongate reference line and an electronic measuring device. The mat has a stance foot orientation guide for receiving the stance foot. The at least one elongate reference line extends radially from the stance foot orientation guide. The electronic measuring device is designed for measuring the distance between the stance foot and the excursion foot when the excursion foot is on or near the reference line.
The electronic measuring device may be a haptic distance sensor that is located in registration with at least one elongate reference line.
The electronic measuring device may be one of a lidar, capacitive, resistive, ultrasonic, time-of-flight or pressure or temperature sensitive device that measures distance.
The balance testing apparatus may further include an electronic data storage device and a visual display operably connected to the electronic measuring device for storing and displaying the measured distance.
The visual display may display diagrams to help guide the subject through the testing responsive to the subject position in the testing.
The electronic data storage device may be any one of a mobile device, a personal computer, a tablet, the cloud or a combination thereof.
The balance testing apparatus may further include an audio device operably connected to the electronic data storage device.
The audio device may provide audio instructions.
The audio instructions may be responsive to information collected from the electronic measuring device.
The stance foot orientation guide may include a central reference point for indicating the position of the stance foot.
The stance foot orientation guide may further include a plurality of radial spokes. The plurality of radial spokes may be 8 equally spaced radial spokes.
The stance foot orientation guide may be colour coded to differentiate between the position for a right stance foot and a left stance foot.
The stance foot orientation guide may further include a plurality of LED lights. The plurality of LED lights may be activated responsive to the position of the stance foot to indicate the next orientation for the stance foot.
The balance testing apparatus may further include a center of gravity platform. The center of gravity platform may include a transparent surface that is positioned over the orientation guide. The center of gravity platform may be an integral part of the mat. The center of gravity platform may include at least one load cell for determining the center of gravity of the stance foot of the subject. The at least one load cell may be a plurality of load cells. The center of gravity platform may determine the weight of the subject. The center of gravity platform may determine the percentage of the weight of the subject that is offloaded when the excursion foot of the subject touches the ground.
The balance testing apparatus may be collapsible.
A method of balance testing using the balance testing apparatus includes the steps of: measuring a first predetermined parameter having the stance foot in a first predetermined position; storing the data; repeating the steps with the stance foot in a different predetermined position; and evaluating the data to obtain a balance test protocol score.
The method of balance testing may further include the step of determining the center of gravity on the stance foot in the different positions during the plurality of step a).
The method of balance testing may further include the percentage of the weight of the subject that is offloaded when the excursion foot of the subject touches the ground.
The balance test apparatus may include a program that provides instructions to the test subject responsive to the location of the stance foot.
The balancing testing apparatus may include LED lights and the lights indicate the orientation of the stance foot.
The pre-recorded audio instructions may be provided responsive to the location of the stance foot.
A flexible sensing strip for use in association with a balance testing mat for testing balance of a test subject having a stance foot and an excursion foot. The flexible sensing strip includes an electronic measuring device for measuring the distance between the stance foot and the excursion foot when the excursion foot is on or near the reference line having a distance sensor; a display operably connected to the elongate distance sensor; and a speaker operably connected to the elongate distance sensor.
The elongate distance sensor may be sandwiched between a top surface and a bottom surface. The top surface and bottom surface may be water resistant. The bottom surface may include an adhesive.
The distance sensor may be a haptic distance sensor.
Further features will be described or will become apparent in the course of the following detailed description.
The embodiments will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to
The stance foot zone 12 as best seen in
As best seen in
The balancing test apparatus 10 also includes a display 32 for displaying the distance measurement and a speaker 34 that may provide instructions to the subject as they go through the balancing test. The speaker may be used to provide a beep when the distance for the excursion foot is recorded and the subject will then know that they can move on to the next position. As well, the speaker may be configured to provide audio instructions that are responsive to information collected from the electronic measuring device. The audio instructions may be in the form of pre-recorded verbal feedback, beeps or any other form of audio feedback. Similarly, the display 32 may be used to provide visual instructions that are responsive to information collected from the electronic measuring device.
Referring to
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the balance testing apparatus 10 may have a number of variations. For example, the haptic sensor 44 may be a lidar, capacitive, resistive, ultrasonic, time-of-flight or pressure sensitive device that measures distance. Ultrasonic and Lidar work on the principle of Time-of-Flight, measuring how long it takes a wave to propagate to the excursion foot and back. An alternate embodiment which uses a Time-of-Flight device 35 rather than the haptic distance sensor 44 is shown in
Referring to
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the center of gravity speaker 76 could be integrated into the speaker 34. Similarly, the center of gravity display 70 could be integrated into display 32.
Referring to
Referring to
Flexible sensing strip 90 includes an elongate distance sensor 44, a distance display 32 and a speaker 34 as described above. The elongate distance sensor 44 is sandwiched between a top surface 94 and a bottom surface 96. In one embodiment the elongated distance sensor 44 is pliable such that it can be rolled up.
In one embodiment the top surface and the bottom surface is water resistant. More particularly the top surface protects the sensor from water and environmental contaminants and is capable of being cleaned regularly. For example the top surface 94 may be made of vinyl. In one embodiment top surface 94 includes a printed pattern 98. The printed pattern may indicate the scaled distance and for example as shown in
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the balance testing apparatus 10 or 60 or 90 provide a technological hardware and software solution based on a combination of digital sensors (load cells, capacitive, touch and proximity sensors) to overcome the burden of manual data collection and management. To address the time and effort issue of the current method, the balance testing apparatus 10, 60 may be configured to automatically collect the patient's excursion distance data and populate it in an intuitive and easy to use interface.
The balance testing apparatus 10, 60, 90 may provide instructions such that the patient can be assisted by the practitioner, while both are guided through the assessment with visual and audible cues generated based on the validity of the patient's excursion. The balance testing apparatus 60 may be used to monitor patient balance and record the reach distance along the excursion direction over multiple visits to the clinic. The collected data could then be used to provide the therapist with a baseline assessment and benchmarking, so the treatment progress can be tracked and used to support patient's adherence to prescribed exercises and track intervention effectiveness.
Additionally, the balance testing apparatus 10, 60, 90 reduces the spatial footprint of the prior art SEBT assessment. Balance testing apparatus 10, 60 utilizes a single excursion direction with the patient changing the orientation of their stance foot; as opposed to the standard embodiment of the SEBT where the patient's stance foot is stationary and the excursions are performed in eight separate directions all around the patient's body. Changing the orientation of the stance foot, as opposed to the excursion foot reduces the spatial footprint of the assessment to −10% of its former area as best seen in
The balance testing apparatus 10, 60, 90 can automate the distance measurement of the SEBT assessment thus allowing the practitioner to solely focus on the patient's postural accuracy. The balance testing apparatus 10, 60 facilitates direct data collection and benchmarking so the treatment and recovery progress could be tracked and used to support patient's adherence to prescribed exercises and track intervention effectiveness.
Generally speaking, the systems described herein are directed to balancing test apparatus. Various embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in the detailed description. The description and drawings are illustrative of the disclosure and are not to be construed as limiting the disclosure. Numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure. However, in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order to provide a concise discussion of embodiments of the present disclosure.
As used herein, the terms, “comprises” and “comprising” are to be construed as being inclusive and open ended, and not exclusive. Specifically, when used in the specification and claims, the terms, “comprises” and “comprising” and variations thereof mean the specified features, steps or components are included. These terms are not to be interpreted to exclude the presence of other features, steps or components.
As used herein, the term “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration,” and should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other configurations disclosed herein.
As used herein the “operably connected” or “operably attached” means that the two elements are connected or attached either directly or indirectly. Accordingly the items need not be directly connected or attached but may have other items connected or attached therebetween.
As used herein, the terms “about” and “approximately” are meant to cover variations that may exist in the upper and lower limits of the ranges of values, such as variations in properties, parameters, and dimensions. In one non-limiting example, the terms “about” and “approximately” mean plus or minus 10 percent or less.
As used herein, the term “substantially” refers to the complete or nearly complete extent or degree of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result. For example, an object that is “substantially” enclosed would mean that the object is either completely enclosed or nearly completely enclosed. The exact allowable degree of deviation from absolute completeness may in some cases depend on the specific context. However, generally speaking the nearness of completion will be so as to have the same overall result as if absolute and total completion were obtained. The use of “substantially” is equally applicable when used in a negative connotation to refer to the complete or near complete lack of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62834240 | Apr 2019 | US |