Wang Zhuo, Xie Haoyu, Chien Jung Hung
Rehabilitation Medicine Center and Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China; Key Laboratory of Rehabilitation Medicine in Sichuan Province, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Gait Posture. 2024 Oct;114:160-166. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2024.09.014. Epub 2024 Sep 23.
The majority of research primarily examines the role of the vestibular system in regulating balance by assessing gait parameters in the transverse plane while neglecting those in the sagittal plane. The present study aimed to examine the impact of various forms of mastoid vibration (MV) on minimum toe clearance (MTC) and its pattern of variability. This study proposed two hypotheses: 1) the application of MV reduced the MTC, and 2) the application of different forms of MV influenced the amount and structure of MTC variability.
A total of twenty young adults participated in this study. A high-resolution motion capture system with eight cameras captured the minimum toe clearance. Three locomotor tasks were randomly assigned to these young participants: 1) walking normally on the treadmill, 2) walking with unilateral MV, and 3) walking with bilateral MV. The dependent variables were the mean of MTC, the amount, and the structure of MTC variability. The amount of MTC variability was calculated by the coefficient of variation represented, and the structure of MTC variability was measured using a sample entropy measure for a total of 200 MTCs.
Applying unilateral and bilateral MV decreased the MTC significantly (-1.6 %, p = 0.038; -4.3 %, p < 0.001) compared to normal walking. Also, applying unilateral MV increased the amount (11.8 %, p = 0.001) and structure of MTC variability (14.3 %, p < 0.001) compared to normal walking. However, applying bilateral MV decreased the amount (-8.8 %, p = 0.001) and structure of MTC variability (-9.0 %, p < 0.001) compared to regular walking.
Although the statistical differences in MTC and MTC variability were observed in the present study, the mean differences among the different MV conditions were relatively small, thereby requiring meticulous deliberation when extrapolating the results when implementing this MTC in the pathological cohort.
大多数研究主要通过评估横向平面的步态参数来研究前庭系统在调节平衡中的作用，而忽略了矢状平面的参数。本研究旨在探讨各种形式的乳突振动（MV）对最小足趾间隙（MTC）及其变异性模式的影响。本研究提出了两个假设：1）MV的应用降低了MTC；2）不同形式的MV应用影响了MTC变异性的数量和结构。
共有20名年轻成年人参与本研究。一个配备八个摄像头的高分辨率运动捕捉系统记录最小足趾间隙。这些年轻参与者被随机分配三项运动任务：1）在跑步机上正常行走；2）单侧MV行走；3）双侧MV行走。因变量为MTC的平均值、MTC变异性的数量和结构。MTC变异性的数量通过变异系数表示来计算，MTC变异性的结构使用样本熵测量法对总共200个MTC进行测量。
与正常行走相比，应用单侧和双侧MV显著降低了MTC（分别为-1.6%，p = 0.038；-4.3%，p < 0.001）。此外，与正常行走相比，应用单侧MV增加了MTC变异性的数量（11.8%，p = 0.001）和结构（14.3%，p < 0.001）。然而，与正常行走相比，应用双侧MV降低了MTC变异性的数量（-8.8%，p = 0.001）和结构（-9.0%，p < 0.001）。
尽管本研究观察到MTC和MTC变异性存在统计学差异，但不同MV条件之间的平均差异相对较小，因此在将此MTC应用于病理队列并外推结果时需要谨慎考虑。
