Balance testing is widely utilized across various populations, for example in elite athletes as part of preseason screenings or in elderly patients to assess risk for falls. Other possible applications are following ankle and knee injuries, such as anterior cruciate ligament ruptures, or after total hip replacement.
Historically, the assessment of balance has focused on the duration individuals can sustain balance while incorporating subjective evaluations of their balance strategy. The use of ReGo enables the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of these strategies.
For instance, the primary outcome parameter of the Single Leg Stance is Balance Point & Sway Area (Fig-1, left). Balance Point is the center of pressure (COP) of the balancing foot, while Sway Area is defined as the area that covers 95% of the COP data points. In these example data of a healthy subject, the Balance Point and Sway Area are comparable between both sides.Â
Another qualitative outcome parameter is Balance Progression (Fig-1, middle), which relates to the traveling velocity of the balancing foot over time. Here, the Balance Progression of the right foot looks more unsteady than the left, although the absolute values seem to be higher on the left.
This is confirmed by the parameter COP Path Length (Fig-1, top right), which is higher on the left. It is the overall length of the COP path across the sensor insole surface. In turn, COP Velocity (Fig-1, bottom left) is the mean velocity of the COP traveling across the sensor insole surface. In this example, it is similar on both sides.
These and the other parameters of the ReGo Single Leg Stance help trainers and therapists to quantify balance assessments, making it a valuable tool to support decision making.
Fill out the form on the right to receive a PDF document which contains a complete parameter list and parameter descriptions. The document also contains the test description and additional information as indicated in the ReGo Single Leg Stance article.
