Home trial of balance device

Anyone who has experienced vertigo will know that it can be an extremely unpleasant experience.

However, Neuroscience Research Australia’s (NeuRA) Dr Americo Migliaccio designed a new device to potentially ease the problem.

Vertigo can be symptomatic of damage to the balance organs in the inner ear, and unfortunately people with this type of damage have very few options for rehabilitation and recovery.

The training instrument was designed to help people recover use of an important reflexive eye movement that was generated by balance organs in the inner ear.

Previous studies have revealed seniors with vertigo were more likely to fall than those without the condition.

“Without this reflex, when your head moves quickly, your whole world appears to move, which can produce very unpleasant dizzy sensations,” Dr Migliaccio said.

The device projects a green dot on to the wall, and the patient practises following the dot with their eyes while moving their head – a skill that people with damage to their balance organs have lost.

The device can be set at different levels of difficulty by the patient, so they can exercise at a level just above their comfort zone.

“As long as there is some function in at least one balance organ, the reflex will adapt and normalise under the right training. We think that with just 15 minutes of practice a day, people with balance problems due to poor vision stabilisation will begin to recover,” Dr Migliaccio said.

Co-inventors of the rehabilitation device, Dr Migliaccio and Dr Michael Schubert, from Johns Hopkins University, have secured funding through the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia to begin a new trial whereby people will be able to use the device and do exercises in their own homes.

The trial will determine if using the instrument at home yields the same results and benefits for patients when used in the laboratory. If the trial is successful, the researchers will be able to begin working with a manufacturer to make the device available to the wider community.

The researchers are seeking about 50 people who have seen a neurotologist about a problem with their balance organ to take part in the trial. Contact Ben Bravery from NeuRA on (02) 9399 1271) for more information.