BAMPER Balance Trainer with Controlled Perturbation and Safety Harness

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Solution Overview

Problem

Balance control, which is crucial for maintaining posture and preventing falls, degrades with age and injury, leading to a high rate of serious injuries among the elderly, with existing technologies failing to effectively train and measure both anticipatory and compensatory balance control effectively.

Innovation Solution

The Balance Measure and Perturbation (BAMPER) system, which includes a controllable treadmill with a runway surface that generates measured displacements to challenge users' posture, equipped with sensors to assess balance control proficiency and a safety harness to prevent falls, operates to train and measure balance control through anticipated and unanticipated postural challenges.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If a treadmill is used to train balance control, then balance training capability is improved, but safety risk increases due to potential falls

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebalance training capabilityVSAvoidfall injury risk

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

A safety harness system is provided that prevents falls before they can cause injury. The harness includes straps that secure the user to the treadmill frame, with padding or cushioning elements to protect the user during the training process, thereby enabling aggressive balance training while eliminating the harmful fall injury risk.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #11Beforehand cushioning (Prior cushioning)

2Measurement precision

If measured displacements are introduced to challenge posture, then balance control measurement precision is improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebalance control measurement precisionVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Sensors (such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, or force sensors) are integrated into the treadmill to electronically measure user posture and balance control parameters. This replaces complex mechanical measurement systems with electronic sensing and processing, achieving high measurement precision while keeping the physical system relatively simple.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Productivity

If controlled challenges are provided to train balance, then training effectiveness is improved, but user safety risk increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetraining effectivenessVSAvoiduser safety

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses sensors to continuously monitor user posture and balance control performance, providing real-time feedback through the control system. This feedback mechanism allows the treadmill to adjust challenge parameters dynamically based on user performance, maintaining high training effectiveness while ensuring user safety by preventing excessive challenges that could cause falls.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP2435140B1Balance perturbation system and trainer

Publication Date: 2015.09.16 BEN GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV

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AI summary

Apparatus for exercising a person's balance control, the apparatus comprising: a motion stage operable to displace an object mounted thereto; a treadmill mounted to the stage and comprising a belt having a runway surface on which a person using the treadmill stands, walks and/or runs; and a controller that controls the motion stage to provide a displacement of the treadmill and thereby the treadmill runway surface.