MOTI measuring Dynamic Stability

Measuring Dynamic Stability

The R&D team just came back from the lab. This time, they were investigating whether it was possible to use MOTI to evaluate dynamic stability. Dynamic stability is probably something that many of you have heard about elsewhere. However, the term is often used interchangeably to describe many different aspects of human function…..unfortunately, these are not always accurate and often describe phenomena that are difficult or even impossible to measure.

What do we mean by dynamic stability?

Dynamic stability may be a confusing as it describes two contradicting factors i.e. something that is moving (dynamic) and something that is stable. To simplify what we mean by this, we can take an example from sport where dynamic stability plays an important role. Many sporting disciplines require the athlete to quickly change directions. This is seen in e.g. soccer where the player needs to initiate a run after landing from heading a ball. Here, the time it takes to find the balance after the landing is a deciding factor in terms of when the player can start running.

The central nervous system plays a vital role in this process and it does so by coordinating sensory feedback with motor output. More specifically, signals from receptors (also called proprioceptors) lying in muscles, ligaments and tendons are used to coordinate the muscle activity needed to control the movement (regain balance). The sensory feedback from these receptors ensures that visual feedback is not necessarily needed to know which position our joints are in. To see how this works, close your eyes and straighten your elbow. Then (with your eyes still closed) bend your elbow to 90 degrees. Then open your eyes and see if your elbow joint is approximately where it is supposed to be. Was it close? Yes? This is