Sensor-based Approach for Objective Balance Skill Assessment: A Review

Abstract

This paper provides a review of sensor-based platforms utilized in the assessment of balance skills, offering insights into various types of sensors, outcome measures and efforts in clinical evaluations. Balance skill assessment is crucial in understanding and managing various neuromuscular disorders, injuries, and age-related declines in motor function.  The review categorizes sensor-based platforms into a few main types such as wearable sensors, force plates, and accelerometers. The paper addresses the benefits and drawbacks of each type of sensor as well as the corresponding outcome measures for each sensor. Outcome measurements include sway velocity, center of pressure excursions, and temporal-spatial movement features. Sensor-based platforms have been shown in clinical tests to have the potential to detect small changes in balance that may not be detected using conventional assessment methods.  The review provides evidence for the effectiveness of sensor-based assessments in a range of clinical populations, such as older people who are at risk of falls, those with musculoskeletal injuries, and neurological illnesses. Moreover, a comparison with traditional ways of evaluating balance clarifies the benefits of sensor-based platforms, such as higher sensitivity, objectivity, and the capacity to record dynamic aspects of balance. This paper offers practitioners, physicians and researchers some useful insights for evaluating and rehabilitating patients with balance-related impairments. Sensor-based measures for more individualized training feedbacks, promoting optimal outcomes in balance training and rehabilitation, are also presented.