An Instrumented Pull Test to Characterize Postural Responses

Joy Tan; Wesley Thevathasan; Jennifer McGinley; Peter Brown; Thushara Perera

doi:10.3791/59309

An Instrumented Pull Test to Characterize Postural Responses

JoVE Journal
Behavior
Author Produced

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JoVE Journal Behavior

An Instrumented Pull Test to Characterize Postural Responses

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12:18 min

April 6, 2019

DOI: 10.3791/59309-v

Joy Tan^1,2,4, Wesley Thevathasan^2,3,4,5, Jennifer McGinley⁶, Peter Brown⁷, Thushara Perera^1,4

¹Department of Medical Bionics,The University of Melbourne, ²Department of Neurology,The Royal Melbourne Hospital, ³Department of Neurology,Austin Hospital, ⁴The Bionics Institute, ⁵Department of Medicine,The University of Melbourne, ⁶Department of Physiotherapy,The University of Melbourne, ⁷Medical Research Council Brain Network Dynamics Unit,University of Oxford

Impairment of postural reflexes, termed postural instability, is difficult to quantify. Clinical assessments such as the pull test suffer issues with reliability and scaling. Here, we present an instrumented version of the pull test to objectively characterize postural responses.

The overall goal of this procedure is to assess postural responses more precisely using an instrumented version of the clinical pull test. This is achieved by using a semi-portable, motion-tracking system to capture postural responses to a manual backward pull. First, apply the harness and attach sensors to the trunk and feet.

The next step is to ensure the participant is standing in comfortable stance along line markings, looking forwards. Next, the instrumented pull test procedure is performed. Pull force is recorded during each trial.

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