Limitation of Existing Methods

Balance control relies on the interaction of three major components (as modeled in Figure I):

1. Input from the sensory systems regarding the body's position relative to the environment;

2. Output from the motor control system for coordinating the movements required to maintain balance and

3. the brain's ability to integrate these processes.

Because the conventional approach to health care focuses on localizing and treating specific pathology, it frequently fails to provide adequate resolution for these complex patients. Patients often seek help from multiple medical specialties without receiving adequate treatment.

Even when a specific pathology is identified, the resulting impairments and functional limitations can vary considerably from one patient to the next, due to the brain's adaptive response.  Patient with similar pathologies may not respond the same way to a given treatment.

                                                                                                                                                                                                Figure I

Evaluating individual components in isolations will not identify or define the problem. It is essential that the clinical approach to these patients include both conventional diagnostic procedures and objective assessments of their impairments and functional limitations.

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