Introduction

The invention consist of a device that can impart a well-controlled mechanical force or impulse, a so-called perturbation, to a pre-selected point on the surface of the human body. The characteristics of the body reaction to the perturbation are then analyzed by the dedicated integral hardware and software modules.

Technical features

The system consist of: a perturbator, able to impart scaled, accurate and well- directed posture disturbance in terms of force or impulse to any point on the surface of the body; a dedicated harware and software modules that can analyze automatically the response in order to enabling clinicians and researchers to explore postural reactions patterns in a consistent and clinically meaningful way.

Possible Applications

• Research in posture control;
• Clinician analysis of equilibrium and posture reaction.

Advantages

• Capacity to impart scaled, controllable and accurate force perturbation;
• Possibility to choose the perturbation point of the body;
• Definition of a standard procedure for the administration of perturbation;
• Automatic analysis of the perturbation reaction.