Utilised for the study of various postural conditions including Parkinson’s Disease, the Balance Board has been developed to use motion and pressure data from a commercial Nintendo Wii Board and transmit this information in real time to an iOS device.

The program which records and distributes this data is designed as an aid for diagnostics.

Details:

The data acquisition software receives wireless (Bluetooth) signals from the Nintendo Wii balance
board and records X and Y direction sway data (center of pressure in raw ADC counts) as a
sequence of trials of a specified duration (typically 20 seconds). Trials can be triggered from the
front panel (below) or by pushing the foot switch built into the balance board for hands free
operation while attending to the subject. Instantaneous center of pressure is continuously displayed
in real time (XY plot at top left) for subject positioning. Sway data for the trial is displayed in the
XY graph (top right) and as separate X and Y time series data plots displayed in the lower graph as it
is acquired.

The Wii balance board can be used as a static balance test, with eyes open and eyes closed, to assess
the contribution of vision. It can also be used as a dynamic test using foam (omnidirectional
challenge) or a rolling plate (targeting pitch plane or roll plane challenges) to assess the contribution
of somatosensory and proprioceptive input.

Contact person for this study: Dr Hamish MacDougall