New interactive wobbleboard to help rehabilitate patients

A NEW interactive wobbleboard has been developed to allow clinicians to better measure improvements in patients’ balance. Wobbleboards are used by physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths and sports therapists to improve patients’ balance and proprioception and prevent the risk of recurrence following an injury. 

The SMARTwobble, created by physiotherapy lecturer Dr Jonathan Williams of Bournemouth University (Dorset, UK), is wirelessly linked to computer software that objectively measures wobbleboard performance, calculating a score which patients can then work on improving. 

Dr Williams said it is currently very difficult to tell how well a patient is doing and if their balance is improving with traditional wobbleboards.  

“A patient will come in and use the wobbleboard, then come back and use it again at a later date but it is very hard to tell if they have got any better or not,” he said.

“For the first time wireless technology is within the wobbleboard, enabling the quantification of performance.”

“With this board, you will be able to see if a patient is below par and set a key objective for them to work towards.”

Dr Jonathan Williams and his interactive wobbleboard

The SMARTwobble has a sensor inside which measures the degree of wobbleboard tilt when a patient is on it. 

It then creates a report, which a clinician can use to measure the performance against previous attempts and the average score of a person who does not have an injury.

“It will allow clinicians to be objective with their assessments,” Dr Williams said. “At the moment we have to guess and it is hard to say what is bad and what is good or how much better a patient is performing – you are purely going on what you can see.”

“Now, when a patient comes in and says they have been working really hard, we can see whether their performance has actually improved.”

As well testing performance the SMARTwobble also features interactive games, where a patient uses the wobbleboard like a joystick to negotiate aAir Jordan VII 7 Shoes