Identification of a degradation in postural equilibrium invoked by different vibration frequencies on the tibialis anterior tendon

The aim of the study was to compare the effect of different vibration frequencies applied to the tibialis anterior tendon on the control of postural equilibrium. Sixty-three parameters were analyzed, with 44 of them showing an effect of vibration. The greatest differences were observed for those parameters related to movement in the anteroposterior direction. Such a result was due to the direction of postural sway induced by the vibration. There were no differences between the control condition and vibration at 50 Hz. However, both 70 and 90 Hz vibrations produced similar results. The method of postural perturbation presented here might be useful to test the sensitivity of parameters extracted from COP signals in terms of their capability to detect small changes in postural equilibrium.