Changes in postural strategy during exercise against perturbation using the balance exercise assist robot: a pilot study.
Norihide Itoh, Shigeo Tanabe, Satoshi Hirano and 5 others
PMID 28210030WHAT IT FOUND
Nine healthy young adults using a balance robot showed significantly less body sway and reduced hip movement after five trials.
Muscle activity decreased slightly but not significantly. This suggests the robot helps users learn to stabilize using their ankles.
Key findings
01Total movement distance of the robot decreased significantly from the first to the last trial.
02Range of motion in the hip joint decreased significantly, while knee and ankle changes were less pronounced or not significant.
03Muscle activity in the lower limbs showed a slight decrease but none of the changes were statistically significant.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study included only nine healthy young adults, so results may not apply to elderly patients or those with balance disorders. Participants anticipated the perturbation intensity because it was the same during practice and testing, which may have minimized the observed changes. Holding the robot handle might have influenced balance acquisition, but upper limb motion was not measured. The study was a pilot with a very small sample size and no control group, limiting certainty. Muscle activity values were low (under 10% MVC), making it difficult to detect significant changes due to potential noise.
Declared interests
The robot was developed by Toyota Motor Corp., but the text does not state that Toyota funded or designed this specific study.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that this robot improves balance in patients. The study only showed changes in postural strategy in nine healthy young adults, and muscle activity changes were not significant.