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Towards mitigating fall risk in older adults using auditory noise stimulation
Current approaches available to mitigate fall risk in older adults have prejudiced emphasis on a) protective equipment such as walking aids, footwear etc., b) environmental modification b) physical therapy and exercise programs. Despite the efforts, the world’s population is ageing and falling in older adults are on the rise. As such, development of more effective interventions for reducing fall risk is a global research priority. Our team is working on a new approach based on auditory noise stimulation for inducing improvement in balance during walking and ultimately to reduce fall-risk in older adults.
Keywords: fall risk, balance, auditory noise stimulation, muscle activity
According to the World Health Organisation, globally, 28-35% older adults (>65 years) fall each year and is the leading cause of injury and sometimes leading to fatal injuries in older adults. According to the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention, falls are the most common type of accident sustained by older people (approximately 41 per 1000 men and 77 per 1000 women) and fall-related injuries generate health-care costs of about CHF 1.4 billion per year in Switzerland alone. Preventing falls are thus of supreme importance in the care of older adults.
Elderly individuals suffer from sensory impairments with reduced functioning of the auditory, vestibular, but also visual sensory subsystems, which in turn lead to poorer balance and increased fall risk. Here, providing low levels of subthreshold (imperceptible) noise to the human body (e.g., via auditory headset) can improve sensory acuity and lead to improved balance and therefore is a promising and innovative solution to mitigate fall risk in older adults [1, 2]. But so far it remains obscure how subthreshold stimulation actually improves movement performance, especially in which manner the neuromuscular system utilizes stimulation effects. Our project therefore aims to further our understanding of behavioural (3D body movement kinematics capture using motion capture technology) and neuromuscular (muscle activity assessed from surface electromyography signals) mechanisms underlying walking balance control with and without auditory noise stimulation.
References
[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14550702/
[2] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19632845/
According to the World Health Organisation, globally, 28-35% older adults (>65 years) fall each year and is the leading cause of injury and sometimes leading to fatal injuries in older adults. According to the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention, falls are the most common type of accident sustained by older people (approximately 41 per 1000 men and 77 per 1000 women) and fall-related injuries generate health-care costs of about CHF 1.4 billion per year in Switzerland alone. Preventing falls are thus of supreme importance in the care of older adults.
Elderly individuals suffer from sensory impairments with reduced functioning of the auditory, vestibular, but also visual sensory subsystems, which in turn lead to poorer balance and increased fall risk. Here, providing low levels of subthreshold (imperceptible) noise to the human body (e.g., via auditory headset) can improve sensory acuity and lead to improved balance and therefore is a promising and innovative solution to mitigate fall risk in older adults [1, 2]. But so far it remains obscure how subthreshold stimulation actually improves movement performance, especially in which manner the neuromuscular system utilizes stimulation effects. Our project therefore aims to further our understanding of behavioural (3D body movement kinematics capture using motion capture technology) and neuromuscular (muscle activity assessed from surface electromyography signals) mechanisms underlying walking balance control with and without auditory noise stimulation.
Your Tasks - Literature research of existing knowledge on auditory noise stimulation, changes in muscle activity, effects on balance & fall risk (10%), Programming (30%), Data analysis (40%), Report including thesis and presentation (20%)
Available Resources - Pre-processed data ready for analysis; Basic codes and pipelines for analysing muscle activity
Prerequisite - You should have some basic programming experience with Matlab and willingness to improve your skills (we are willing to support you!)
Your workplace - Your main place of work will be Laboratory for Movement Biomechanics, ETH Zurich (GLC Campus).
Your Tasks - Literature research of existing knowledge on auditory noise stimulation, changes in muscle activity, effects on balance & fall risk (10%), Programming (30%), Data analysis (40%), Report including thesis and presentation (20%)
Available Resources - Pre-processed data ready for analysis; Basic codes and pipelines for analysing muscle activity
Prerequisite - You should have some basic programming experience with Matlab and willingness to improve your skills (we are willing to support you!)
Your workplace - Your main place of work will be Laboratory for Movement Biomechanics, ETH Zurich (GLC Campus).
We really encourage you to contact one of us if you have any questions about the project or want to discuss about this opportunity.
Deepak Ravi (deepak.ravi@hest.ethz.ch)
Navrag Singh (navragsingh@ethz.ch)
We really encourage you to contact one of us if you have any questions about the project or want to discuss about this opportunity. Deepak Ravi (deepak.ravi@hest.ethz.ch) Navrag Singh (navragsingh@ethz.ch)