Abstract
Objectives
To test whether subsensory vibratory noise applied to the sole of the foot using a
novel piezoelectric vibratory insole can significantly improve sensation, enhance
balance, and reduce gait variability in elderly people, as well as to determine the
optimal level of vibratory noise and whether the therapeutic effect would endure and
the user's sensory threshold would remain constant during the course of a day.
Design
A randomized, single-blind, crossover study of 3 subsensory noise stimulation levels
on 3 days.
Setting
Balance and gait laboratory.
Participants
Healthy community-dwelling elderly volunteers (N=12; age, 65–90y) who could feel the
maximum insole vibration.
Interventions
A urethane foam insole with the piezoelectric actuators delivering subsensory vibratory
noise stimulation to the soles of the feet.
Main Outcome Measures
Balance, gait, and timed Up and Go (TUG) test.
Results
The vibratory insoles significantly improved performance on the TUG test, reduced
the area of postural sway, and reduced the temporal variability of walking at both
70% and 85% of the sensory threshold and during the course of a day. Vibratory sensation
thresholds remained relatively stable within and across study days.
Conclusions
This study provides proof of concept that the application of the principle of stochastic
resonance to the foot sole sensory system using a new low-voltage piezoelectric technology
can improve measures of balance and gait that are associated with falls. Effective
vibratory noise amplitudes range from 70% to 85% of the sensory threshold and can
be set once daily.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
COP (center of pressure), CV (coefficient of variation), ICC (intraclass correlation coefficient), SR (stochastic resonance), TUG (timed Up and Go)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 24, 2014
Footnotes
Supported by Merck Sharp and Dohme and the National Institute on Aging (grant no. AG025037). Lipsitz holds the Irving and Edyth S. Usen and Family Chair in Geriatric Medicine at Hebrew SeniorLife.
Disclosures: Niemi received grants from Merck Consumer Care during the study. In addition, he has a patent planned on insole design; however, there is no licensee. The other authors have nothing to disclose.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
