I. MOTIVATION The way how humans maintain balance during standing and locomotion has been an active area of research for many years now, with applications in bipedal robotics, leg prosthetics, and rehabilitation. However, most studies are limited to standing and walking on immobile surfaces, or on externally perturbed platforms and treadmills. Less is known about unstable, passive support surfa...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and complication rate of guided growth for the treatment of patients with a moderate leg-length discrepancy. The authors retrospectively reviewed all patients treated with guided growth for a moderate leg-length discrepancy at their institution between October 2004 and December 2010. Thirty-four patients met the inclusion criteria from...

Methods Two groups of participants were recruited: 14 with no history of ankle injury (age 22.6 ± 0.7 yrs, 10 females) and 14 with a history of two or more ankle sprains (Age 21.1 ± 0.2 yrs, 9 females, 6 ± 2.5 sprains). Participants stood in single leg stance on an inversion perturbation platform. The perturbation platform dropped 15 degrees in the frontal plane on a trigger activated by the re...

Fear of heights occurs when a visual stimulus causes the apprehension of losing balance and falling. A moderate form of visual height intolerance (vHI) affects about one third of the general population and has relevant consequences for the quality of life. A quantitative evaluation of balance mechanisms in persons susceptible to vHI during height exposure is missing. VHI-related changes in post...

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether application of bipolar galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) would influence the common modulation of motor unit discharge rate in bilateral soleus muscles during quiet standing. Soleus motor unit activity was recorded with fine wire electrodes in each leg. Subjects stood, with eyes closed, on two adjacent force platforms to record postural s...