Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Sensors (Basel). 2022 Apr 7;22(8):2826. doi: 10.3390/s22082826.
While balance training with concurrent feedback has been shown to improve real-time balance in older adults, terminal feedback may simplify implementation outside of clinical settings. Similarly, visual feedback is particularly well-suited for use outside the clinic as it is relatively easily understood and accessible via ubiquitous mobile devices (e.g., smartphones) with little additional peripheral equipment. However, differences in the effects of concurrent and terminal visual feedback are not yet well understood. We therefore performed a pilot study that directly compared the immediate effects of concurrent and terminal visual feedback as a first and necessary step in the future design of visual feedback technologies for balance training outside of clinical settings. Nineteen healthy older adults participated in a single balance training session during which they performed 38 trials of a single balance exercise including trials with concurrent, terminal or no visual feedback. Analysis of trunk angular position and velocity features recorded via an inertial measurement unit indicated that sway angles decreased with training regardless of feedback type, but sway velocity increased with concurrent feedback and decreased with terminal feedback. After removing feedback, training with either feedback type yielded decreased mean velocity, but only terminal feedback yielded decreased sway angles. Consequently, this study suggests that, for older adults, terminal visual feedback may be a viable alternative to concurrent visual feedback for short duration single-task balance training. Terminal feedback provided using ubiquitous devices should be further explored for balance training outside of clinical settings.
虽然同时提供反馈的平衡训练已被证明可以改善老年人的实时平衡能力，但终端反馈可能会使在临床环境之外的实施变得更加简单。同样，视觉反馈特别适合在临床之外使用，因为它相对容易理解，并且可以通过无处不在的移动设备（例如智能手机）轻松访问，而无需额外的外围设备。然而，目前对于同时提供反馈和终端反馈的影响差异还没有很好的理解。因此，我们进行了一项试点研究，直接比较了同时提供反馈和终端视觉反馈的即时效果，这是未来在临床环境之外设计平衡训练视觉反馈技术的必要步骤。19 名健康的老年人参加了一次单一平衡训练课程，在此期间，他们完成了 38 次单一平衡练习，其中包括同时提供反馈、终端提供反馈或不提供反馈的练习。通过惯性测量单元记录的躯干角度位置和速度特征的分析表明，无论反馈类型如何，摆动角度都会随着训练而减小，但摆动速度会随着同时提供反馈而增加，随着终端提供反馈而减小。在去除反馈后，使用任何一种反馈类型的训练都会使平均速度降低，但只有终端反馈会使摆动角度降低。因此，这项研究表明，对于老年人来说，终端视觉反馈可能是短期单一任务平衡训练中替代同时提供视觉反馈的可行选择。应该进一步探索使用无处不在的设备提供终端反馈，以用于临床环境之外的平衡训练。
