BackgroundThe ability to maintain static and dynamic balance is a prerequisite for safe walking and for obtaining functional mobility. For this reason, a reliable and valid means of screening for risk of falls is needed. The functional reach test (FRT) is used in many countries, yet it does not provide some kinematic parameters such as shoulder or pelvic girdles translation. The purpose was to analyze video records measuring of distance, velocity, time length, arm direction and girdles translation while doing FRT.MethodsA cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted where the above variables were correlated to the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) for mental status and the Tinetti balance assessment test, which have been validated, in order to computerize the FRT (cFRT) for elderly patients with neurological disorders. Eighty patients were tested and 54 were eligible to serve as experimental group. The patients underwent the MMSE, the Tinetti test and the FRT. LAB view software was used to record the FRT performances and to process the videos. The control group consisted of 51 healthy subjects who had been previously tested.ResultsThe experimental group was not able to perform the tests as well as the healthy control subjects. The video camera provided valuable kinematic results such as bending down while performing the forward reach test.ConclusionsInstead of manual measurement, we proposed to use a cheap with fair resolution web camera to accurately estimate the FRT. The kinematic parameters were correlated with Tinetti and MMSE scores. The performance values established in this study indicate that the cFRT is a reliable and valid assessment, which provides more accurate data than “manual” test about functional reach.

Pressure sores are frequent in subjects who are paralysed because of spinal cord injuries and confined to wheelchairs: to prevent sores, these subjects must get used to frequently changing their posture. Useful information to investigate change characteristics may come through studying the behaviour of healthy subjects during long periods of sitting posture: to this aim, in the Department of Biomedical Engineering of Tel Aviv University, markers were applied to the trunks of subjects who were then filmed, while in the Department of Mechanics and Aeronautics of Rome University “La Sapienza” (DMA), angular potentiometers were applied to the base of the spine of subjects sitting on a chair where a pressure map sensor was positioned. In this paper a modification of the potentiometer device is shown: linear potentiometers are also applied to the base of the spine of the subjects; so, in addition to the relations among pelvis centre of pressure (COP) displacements, and trunk rotations, it is possible to find the relations between trunk translations and trunk rotations and between trunk translations and COP displacements; so all the characteristics of the movements of the pelvis and of the trunk at the base of the spine can now be investigated and compared. The results of the tests on 10 healthy DMA students following an established movement sequence are shown: there are particularly significant relations between trunk translations and trunk rotations in the sagittal plane, and between trunk translations and COP displacements in the frontal plane.

Pressure sores (PS), are frequent in subjects with spinal cord injuries, and to minimize PS these subjects must get used to frequently changing their posture; useful information to this aim may come by testing healthy subjects and studying their kinematic behaviour during long sitting sessions. Two different investigation systems have been developed to this aim in the Department of Mechanics and Aeronautics (DMA) of Rome University ‘‘La Sapienza’’: the two systems, a pressure map sensor arranged on a chair and a potentiometer-based device to measure trunk rotations at the base of the spine are shown in this paper and their outputs are compared and correlated. The behaviour of ten healthy subjects is then evaluated during a one hour sitting session for preliminary consideration: there is a postural change every 7.7 ± 6.7 minutes in the frontal plane and every 5.7 ± 2.7 minutes in the sagittal plane; pelvis movements can be resumed by Centre of Pressure (COP) displacements and the largest values of these displacements are 5.2 ± 2.4 cm in the frontal plane and 3.0 ± 1.4 cm in the sagittal plane; the largest rotations in the two planes are respectively 8.4 ± 0.7 and 20.7 ± 12.6. The results of the study are discussed and satisfactorily compared with literature results

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