Optimization of Center-of-Pressure-Based Indices for Assessing Balance Ability

Balance ability assessment is crucial for screening mobility decline group and introducing early interventions. However, it is a big challenge to identify the population with moderate balance problems. Force platform test provides a tool for acquiring and analyzing the Center-of-Pressure (COP) signal of the human body. In this paper, the envelope curve area (ECA), and trajectory mean velocity (TMV) of COP signal were extracted as the magnitude and responsiveness parameters of COP. The tests on 136 subjects indicate that ECA and TMV offer comprehensive and efficient indices for assessing balance ability and suggest that the most reliable results are achieved under eyes opened condition.