Balance Tools Used for Return-to-Duty Assessment and Rehabilitation 
From: Medical Design Briefs - 09/2011 - page 21
By: Tiffany Halloway

Dizziness and balance issues are the most frequently reported symptoms
following exposure to an improvised explosive device. 

US Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory researchers, Dr. Angus Rupert and Dr.
Benton Lawson developed the Vibrotactile Balance Rehabilitation Device. 

The Vibrotactile Balance Rehabilitation Device is a single horizontal belt of
tactors worn around the waist for situations where information concerning
rising and falling in the vertical direction (e.g., altitude) are not as
important. The goal of this device is to allow for screening, assessment of
recovery, and rehabilitation of balance deficits following TBI, allowing
injured soldiers to return-to-duty. 

The device detects body sway via changes in pressure on a platform on which
the patient stands. When sway goes beyond therapist-determined limits, a
vibration cue is delivered in the direction of the excessive sway. The
patient corrects his/her balance by moving away from the excessive sway
signal. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.medicaldesignbriefs.com/component/content/article/11042

Link:
Vibrotactile Balance Rehabilitation Device will be on loan at UK's Defence
  Medical Rehabilitation Centre 
http://www.facebook.com/notes/us-army-medical-research-materiel-command-usamrmc/vibrotactile-balance-rehabilitation-device-will-be-on-loan-at-uks-defence-medica/10150148984639612