A study of postural sway during pregnancy through spectral analysis of stabilometric signals

Author

Oliveira, Liliam F. ; Simpson, David M. ; Nadal, Jurandir

Author_Institution

Biomed. Eng. Program, Fed. Univ. of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Volume

2

fYear

1996

fDate

31 Oct-3 Nov 1996

Firstpage

581

Abstract

During pregnancy, painful problems of posture are common. With the alterations in weight and weight-distribution, changes in body balance may also be expected. In the present work, postural sway of normal pregnant women was analysed through stabilometric exams. Taking parameters of power in frequency bands in the forward/backward and lateral directions, it was found that alterations only occurred below 0.5 Hz under eyes closed/feet apart and eyes open/feet together protocols. The authors conclude that the mechanisms of balance control generally seem able to compensate body sway for the physical changes during pregnancy

Keywords

biomechanics; medical signal processing; spectral analysis; 0.5 Hz; balance control mechanisms; body sway compensation; eyes closed; eyes open; feet apart; feet together; forward/backward direction; human body; lateral direction; normal pregnant women; painful problems; postural sway; pregnancy; stabilometric exams; stabilometric signals spectral analysis; upright position; weight-distribution alterations; Analysis of variance; Electrooptic deflectors; Eyes; Frequency; Gravity; Low pass filters; Pregnancy; Protocols; Spectral analysis; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 1996. Bridging Disciplines for Biomedicine. Proceedings of the 18th Annual International Conference of the IEEE

Conference_Location

Amsterdam

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3811-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IEMBS.1996.651874

Filename

651874