Name of the project: BALANCE – Parallel kinematics machines for the diagnosis and rehabilitation of the balance function in patients with neurological disord
Reference: PID2019-105262RB-I00
Funding: Science and Innovation Ministery, Spanish Government
Period: june 2020 – June 2023
Participating Institutions: COMPMECH Research Group (UPV/EHU) and Gorliz Hospital (BIOCRUCES Bizkaia
Main researchers: Charles Pinto (COMPMECH) and Francisco Javier Campa (COMPMECH)
Number of participating researchers: 10
This is a collaboration project between COMPMECH Reasearch Group (UPV/EHU) and Gorliz Hospital (BIOCRUCES Bizkaia).
Pathologies that affect the balance are very common in Medicine. The symptoms related to the deficits of the balance function are highlydisabling and alter the life quality of the patient. The motivation of this project is to provide the health system with a usefuland efficient tool that measures objectively the deficit level of the balance function and helps during the rehabilitation process to recoverthat function as much as possible. In order to do that, the main objective of this project is to develop a machine that generates a set of movements that allows the study andtraining of the reaction of the patient. The machine will be based on two sensor-equipped mobile platforms one for each foot on which the patient will stand. The reaction of the patient will be studied by using the data obtained by the sensors, which will be analysed in order to get quantitative parameters that provide information about the level of balance deficit and its evolution. Moreover, the information gatheredby the sensors should also provide a visual feedback to the patient while the exercises are going on.