Controlling posture using a plantar pressure-based, tongue-placed tactile biofeedback system.

Nicolas Vuillerme (1) , Olivier Chenu (1) , Jacques Demongeot (1) , Yohan Payan (2)

1 TIMC-IMAG - Techniques de l'Ingénierie Médicale et de la Complexité - Informatique, Mathématiques et Applications, Grenoble - UMR 5525
2 TIMC-IMAG-GMCAO - Gestes Medico-chirurgicaux Assistés par Ordinateur

The present paper introduces an original biofeedback system for improving human balance control, whose underlying principle consists in providing additional sensory information related to foot sole pressure distribution to the user through a tongue-placed tactile output device. To assess the effect of this biofeedback system on postural control during quiet standing, ten young healthy adults were asked to stand as immobile as possible with their eyes closed in two conditions of No-biofeedback and Biofeedback. Centre of foot pressure (CoP) displacements were recorded using a force platform. Results showed reduced CoP displacements in the Biofeedback relative to the No-biofeedback condition. The present findings evidenced the ability of the central nervous system to efficiently integrate an artificial plantar-based, tongue-placed tactile biofeedback for controlling control posture during quiet standing.

Mots clés: Balance; Biofeedback; Tongue Display Unit; Plantar pressure; Centre of foot pressure

Domaines: Biomécanique [physics.med-ph]; Biomécanique [physics.med-ph]; Neurosciences [q-bio.NC]; Neurosciences

Nicolas Vuillerme, Olivier Chenu, Jacques Demongeot, Yohan Payan. Controlling posture using a plantar pressure-based, tongue-placed tactile biofeedback system.. Experimental Brain Research, 2007, 179 (3), pp.409-14. ⟨10.1007/s00221-006-0800-4⟩. ⟨hal-00145353⟩