Introduction: Falling causes long term disability and can even lead to death. Most falls occur during gait. Therefore improving gait stability might be beneficial for people at risk of falling. Recently arm swing has been shown to influence gait stability. However at present it remains unknown which …

This paper introduces a design case that was built around the challenge to design a prototype for women that would positively influence their perception of personal safety in public spaces. The proposed design combines an individual focus with a public impact, influencing emotions through embodiment …

The medical back belt with integrated neuromuscular electrical stimulation is anorthopedic device, which has two main functions. The first function is to stimulate the backmuscles by using a neuromuscular electrical stimulation device that releases regular,electrical impulses. The second function of …

Background Several footwear design characteristics are known to have detrimental effects on the foot. However, one characteristic that has received relatively little attention is the point where the sole flexes in the sagittal plane. Several footwear assessment forms assume that this should ideally …

INTRODUCTION: Based on the windlass mechanism theory of Hicks, the medial longitudinal arch (MLA) flattens during weight bearing. Simultaneously, foot lengthening is expected. However, changes in foot length during gait and the influence of walking speed has not been investigated yet. METHODS: The foot …

The effect of alterations in the processing of proprioceptive signals, on postural control, has been studied using muscle vibration effects. However, reliability and agreement of muscle vibration have still to be addressed.This study aimed to assess intra- and interday reliability and agreement of vibration …

Background information: Slumped sitting is associated with decreased back muscle activity and proprioception disturbances. An active posture is advocated to prevent those effects. Altered muscle activation patterns, disturbed proprioception and multifidus atrophy are commonly seen in people with low …

Background: Nasal breathing is a commonly used technique among runners. However, the scientific research available on the topic is limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of nasal breathing on runners' posture, perceived exertion and the effect of practice. Method: The participants, …

Introduction: This study investigates a potentially new tool for physiotherapeutic fall prevention in elderly, namely Abdominal Breathing (AB). So far clinical relevance on this topic has been limited, because Normal Breathing (NB) was not included and because tasks were not sufficiently challenging …

A previous review concluded that postural sway is increased in patients with low back pain (LBP). However, more detailed analysis of the literature shows that postural deficit may be dependent on experimental conditions in which patients with LBP have been assessed. The research question to be answered …