Multisegmental Sensor Integration for Balance Control

Fall-related events are the leading cause for injury deaths among people 65 years and older. Blast related balance dysfunction is a significant problem the military. Recent advances in Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) have made accessible a variety of extremely small, rugged, reliable, low power consumption, and inexpensive sensors of acceleration and pressure. A collection of these devices should be capable of providing similar proprioceptive information that the distributed biological sensors of the human body provide the brain to carry out complex mobility tasks. This project aims to determine the minimal number, location and type of sensors required to provide real-time balance information for a wearable dynamic balance measurement system. We will develop new wearable sensors for determining key biomechanical parameters including; multiple segment, networked inertial sensors, shear sensors and environmental classification sensors.