Abstract
The article focuses on a noninvasive method and system of quantifying postural stability of patients undergoing vestibular schwannoma microsurgery. Recent alternatives quantifying human postural stability are rather limited. The major drawback is that the posturography system can evaluate only two physical quantities of body movement and can be measured only on a transverse plane. A complex movement pattern can be, however, described more precisely while using three physical quantities of 3-D movement. This is the reason why an inertial measurement unit (Xsens MTx unit), through which we obtained 3-D data (three Euler angles or three orthogonal accelerations), was placed on the patient's trunk. Having employed this novel method based on the volume of irregular polyhedron of 3-D body movement during quiet standing, it was possible to evaluate postural stability. To identify and evaluate pathological balance control of patients undergoing vestibular schwannoma microsurgery, it was necessary to calculate the volume polyhedron using the 3-D Leibniz method and to plot three variables against each other. For the needs of this study, measurements and statistical analysis were made on nine patients. The results obtained by the inertial measurement unit showed no evidence of improvement in postural stability shortly after surgery (4 days). The results were consistent with the results obtained by the posturography system. The evaluated translation variables (acceleration) and rotary variables (angles) measured by the inertial measurement unit correlate strongly with the results of the posturography system. The proposed method and application of the inertial measurement unit for the purpose of measuring patients with vestibular schwannoma appear to be suitable for medical practice. Moreover, the inertial measurement unit is portable and, when compared to other traditional posturography systems, economically affordable. Inertial measurement units can alternatively be implemented in mobile phones or watches.
Highlights
Sensory nervous system disorders adversely affect postural stability of patients [1]
In the case of the patient’s trunk (Pts) with eyes open (EO) and EC standing on the firm surface (FiS) and foam surface (FoS), the measured data shows a significant increase of the median of the TVPAs, TVPDs, area of the 95% confidence ellipse (ACE), or path length (PL) after the eyes closed and standing on the FoS (Figures 6 and 7)
The results show that in clinical practice, it is more suitable to perform the examination of subjects in a standing position with the EC placed on FoS since the postural control deficits can be identified more accurately
Summary
Sensory nervous system disorders adversely affect postural stability of patients [1]. Patients with vestibular schwannoma (VS), a benign tumor originating from Schwann cells of vestibular part XIII of the cranial nerve, encounter—in addition to other problems—balance and vertigo disorders [1,2,3]. The slow VS growth leads to gradual vestibular dysfunction and deteriorates postural stability of stance, which is partially compensated for by the central compensatory mechanism [4]. Stabilometric platforms are employed for the evaluation of patients’ postural stability. These platforms monitor the movement in the centre of pressure (CoP); subsequently, the motion is assessed by means of quantitative CoP indicators [1, 5]. Stabilometric platforms are, expensive when compared to motion sensors based on gyroscopes or accelerometers ( used in modern phones and watches)
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