Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: ALISON BARBOSA DA ROCHA

Development of real-time monitoring device for postural rehabilitation

 postural rehabilitation, load cells, tilt sensor, mobile devices, humanmachine interface.

Postural balance rehabilitation has as its objective assess and correct functional and structural problems of the spine caused by the incidence of dysfunctions in the habit of sitting, genetic problems and, in more serious cases, spinal cord injuries. One of the objectives of the treatment is to promote the muscular, biomechanical balance of the trunk and the distribution of the body weight over a balance point in order to maintain a uniform distribution of in the support points, in this sense, the objective of this work was to develop a device real-time monitoring, mounted on the base of a bench for physiotherapy, which uses sensors to capture the pressure distribution on the seat and the inclination of the center of mass to then map the center of pressure (COP) assisting in evaluations of patients with such postural dysfunctions. The data are collected by a set of load cells that receive the values of the forces applied on the bench base and by an inclination sensor that detects the angular variation. These data are loaded onto an electronic development board that uses an algorithm to condition the received signals and sends them remotely through a communication protocol appropriate for mobile, devices where the evolutions of movements on the device are graphically presented in a human-machine interface. In this way, the physiotherapy professional can assess the points of intervention in the patient’s posture and regulate exercises to strengthen the region, as well as the adjustment of weight distribution on the bench, contributing to a more appropriate posture.