Laboratory of Human Motricity Studies, Federal University of Para, Belém, Pará, Brasil.
Biological Sciences Institute, Federal University of Para, Belém, Pará, Brazil.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2024 Oct 7;18(10):e0012537. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0012537. eCollection 2024 Oct.
Leprosy is a chronic, slowly developing infectious disease that affects the peripheral nerves, specifically Schwann cells. Individuals with the multibacillary type exhibit a propensity for developing chronic pain and a decrease in sensitivity in the plantar region, which directly interferes with balance maintenance. The evaluation of static balance in this population is made through the measurement of the center of pressure (COP) oscillations. Therefore, there is a need to investigate the association between postural control and COP oscillations using a force platform and finding accelerations of the center of mass (COM) from inertial sensors for reliable and portable balance assessment in leprosy patients.
To validate the application of inertial sensors for patients with leprosy by establishing a correlation with the outcomes obtained from a force platform.
This is an observational study with a case-control design, in which 30 participants with leprosy and 30 healthy participants were recruited to evaluate static balance using an inertial sensor and a force platform. Participants underwent balance assessment under two conditions (Eyes Open: OE and Eyes Closed: CE), and data from the platform and sensor were processed using Matlab computational routines. The data were quantified using four parameters: Total Displacement (TD), Area, Antero-Posterior Displacement (APdisp), and Medio-Lateral Displacement (MLdisp).
The evaluated parameters showed significantly different values between the groups, where the Leprosy group exhibited significantly higher values compared to the control group, both in the OE and CE conditions for all four parameters. The sensor corroborated the differences demonstrated by the platform and followed the same trend for medio-lateral displacements and accelerations. It can be observed that the evaluated parameters exhibited a varied correlation ranging from moderate to large between the platform and the sensor. Among the four variables, MLdisp had the lowest correlation.
The results partially confirmed the first hypothesis of concurrent validation, showing a moderate to large correlation between the force platform and the inertial sensor. The second hypothesis of clinical validation was also partially confirmed, as not all group differences observed in the COP measurements from the force platform were reflected in the COM measurements from the inertial sensor. Specifically, the force platform indicated greater oscillations in participants with multibacillary leprosy compared to controls, a finding statistically confirmed by the sensor for all measures except MLdisp.
This research confirmed the concurrent validity of the inertial sensor with the force platform and its clinical validation, demonstrating that this instrument can be applied in clinical settings due to its low cost and ease of use. The findings may contribute to public health by identifying postural control tools for patients with multibacillary leprosy.
麻风病是一种慢性、发展缓慢的传染病，影响外周神经，特别是施旺细胞。多菌型患者易发生慢性疼痛和足底区域敏感性下降，直接影响平衡维持。通过测量压力中心（COP）的振荡来评估该人群的静态平衡。因此，需要研究使用力平台进行的姿势控制与 COP 振荡之间的关联，并使用惯性传感器从质心（COM）加速度寻找可靠和便携式麻风病患者平衡评估的加速度。
通过与力平台获得的结果建立相关性，验证惯性传感器在麻风病患者中的应用。
这是一项观察性研究，采用病例对照设计，共招募 30 名麻风病患者和 30 名健康参与者，使用惯性传感器和力平台评估静态平衡。参与者在两种条件下（睁眼：OE 和闭眼：CE）进行平衡评估，使用 Matlab 计算例程处理平台和传感器的数据。使用四个参数量化数据：总位移（TD）、面积、前后向位移（APdisp）和左右向位移（MLdisp）。
评估的参数在组间表现出明显的差异，麻风病组在 OE 和 CE 两种条件下的所有四个参数均明显高于对照组。传感器与平台一致，证实了中-外侧位移和加速度的差异趋势。可以观察到，评估的参数在平台和传感器之间表现出从中度到高度的变化相关性。在四个变量中，MLdisp 的相关性最低。
结果部分证实了同时验证的第一个假设，表明力平台和惯性传感器之间存在从中等到高度的相关性。临床验证的第二个假设也得到了部分证实，因为力平台测量的 COP 中的所有组间差异并不都反映在惯性传感器测量的 COM 中。具体来说，力平台表明多菌型麻风病患者的振荡更大，传感器除 MLdisp 外，所有测量均统计证实了这一点。
本研究证实了惯性传感器与力平台的同时有效性及其临床验证，表明由于其低成本和易用性，该仪器可在临床环境中应用。这些发现可能通过为多菌型麻风病患者确定姿势控制工具为公共卫生做出贡献。
