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Quantifying unsupported sitting posture impairments in humans with cervical spinal cord injury using a head-mounted IMU sensor

Spinal Cord volume 62, pages 65–70 (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Study design

Cross-sectional study.

Objectives

To evaluate unsupported sitting posture impairments and identify postural regulatory strategies in cervical spinal cord injury (cSCI) participants via a head-mounted IMU sensor.

Setting

A research lab in the United States of America.

Methods

cSCI participants and controls maintained postural stability during unsupported sitting with eyes either open or closed. The head-mounted IMU sensor recorded accelerometer data to calculate cumulative sway motion. The postural regulatory strategy was analyzed by assessing the normalized power spectral density (PSD) in four frequency bands: 0–0.1 Hz (visual regulation), 0.1–0.5 Hz (vestibular regulation), 0.5–1 Hz (cerebellar regulation), and >1 Hz (proprioception and muscle control).

Results

Significant increases in postural sway were observed in cSCI participants compared to controls during unsupported sitting. For cSCI participants, normalized PSD significantly increased in the low-frequency bands (0–0.1 Hz and 0.1–0.5 Hz) but decreased in the high-frequency band (>1 Hz) compared to controls.

Conclusions

cSCI participants were more reliant on visual and vestibular systems for sitting balance, while depending less on proprioception and muscle control compared to controls. These findings suggest that the altered postural regulatory strategy is ineffective in maintaining postural stability during unsupported sitting, emphasizing the importance of proprioception and muscle control for seated postural stability in cSCI participants.

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Fig. 1: Characteristics and Sway Analysis in cSCI Participants and Controls During Eyes-Open Condition.
Fig. 2: Sway Analysis in cSCI Participants and Controls During Eyes-Closed Condition.
Fig. 3: Spectral Analysis of cSCI Participants and Controls.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program of Motor Neuroscience, Department of Kinesiology & Sport Management, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Yuming Lei, Victoria Rios, Jessica Ji, Brandon Duhon, Hunter Boyd & Yunhan Xu

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  1. Yuming Lei
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  2. Victoria Rios
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  3. Jessica Ji
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  4. Brandon Duhon
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  5. Hunter Boyd
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  6. Yunhan Xu
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Contributions

YL, VR, JJ, BD, HB, and YX designed research; YL, VR, JJ, BD, HB, and YX performed research; YL, VR, JJ, BD, HB, and YX analyzed data; and YL wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Yuming Lei.

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Lei, Y., Rios, V., Ji, J. et al. Quantifying unsupported sitting posture impairments in humans with cervical spinal cord injury using a head-mounted IMU sensor. Spinal Cord 62, 65–70 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-023-00951-w

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