Design of a dynamic balance assessment system
Considine, John (2007) Design of a dynamic balance assessment system. Master of Engineering thesis, Dublin City University.
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The aim of this work was to design, build and test a system that could perturb a test subject standing upon it in order to assess their ability to react to these changes. This would be achieved by rapidly t~ltingt he surface on which the person was standing and then returning it to the horizontal position. From this it could be determined whether the test subject was able to maintain a state of balance or how long it took them to return to that state of balance. This state of balance would be determined by measuring the subject's postural sway by using a foot pressure profile plate to determine how much deviation there was during testing. This system was also designed to be more versatile and affordable than what is currently available commercially, as while these machnes are important for studies they are not in common use at present due to their cost. The newly developed system presented in ths thesis, has been used to move test subjects up to 100kg in weight.
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