Assessment of Vestibular System Function by Diffusion Analysis

The objective is to develop a technique and device which can be used to monitor and evaluate objectively the degree of impairment of the vestibular system throuh the analysis of the postural stability of an individual maintaining upright posture. This technique will be based on stabiliogram-diffusion analysis, which is a novel methodology for examining quiet-standing balance. During Phase I the specific aims are 1) to evaluate the ability of stabiologram-diffusion analysis to discriminate between health individuals and individuals with bilateral vestibular dysfunction, 2) to gain a preliminary understanding of how the vestibular system is integrated into the postural control system and 3) to begin developing a multivariate statistical technique that can be used to identify and diagnose individuals with vestibular disorders and evaluate quantitatively the progress of rehabilitation therapies applied to such individuals. The long-term objectives during Phase II are 1) evaluate the ability of stabilogram-diffusion analysis to discriminate between healthy individuals and individuals with different forms of vestibular dysfunction, 2) to establish a normative posturographic database, 3) to demonstrate the viability of the technique in providing quantitative assessments of vestibular function in individuals undergoing rehabilitation, 4) to provide an advanced software and hardware prototype of the system for evaluating vestibular function.