Article

Recent studies have shown that whole-body vibration improves posture and gait
control in stroke patients. Patients with degenerative cerebellar disease suffer
from ataxic gait also which is characterised by the variation of gait pattern.
Our interest is to test whole-body vibration as a method for rehabilitation
treatment in cerebellar patients and to assess the success of the treatment using
dynamic tests. The aim of this study was to introduce a method for quantifying
movement dynamics during an active voluntary sidestep that results in a
body-weight-transfer. Subjects had to perform a step from a feet-apart-position
to a feet-together-position and back again. The algorithms presented in this
study allow automatic identification of the timing of the dynamic phases by
analysing the centre of pressure trajectory. For this study the time flow of
averaged speed, acceleration, and jerk was calculated for the active movement
only. This study demonstrates that jerk provides a sensitive measure for the
improvement in gait in rehabilitation and during training.
CI - Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS