Brief Summary:
The CIBAHI project aims to better understand balance control in individuals with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT), who often experience balance impairments and frequent falls that affect their quality of life. The project explores whether adding haptic input in form of light fingertip touch can help enhance standing balance in these individuals. A better understanding of how haptic input impacts balance could lead to more effective rehabilitation and fall prevention strategies. We plan to include 20 individuals with CMT and 20 age-and-sex matched healthy individuals. The project involves collaboration of different sections within the Oslo University Hospital (Section for Rare Neuromuscular Disorders, Research Group for Applied Neurophysiology and Innovation, and the Department of Clinical and Biomedical Engineering) and with the user associations forming the Norwegian Neuromuscular Disease Collaboration (Unit for Inborn and Hereditary Neuromuscular Disorders; EMAN, Neuromuscular Competence Centre; NMK, and Frambu Competence Centre for Rare Diseases. The project received research funding from the National Center for Rare Disorders. The project has received ethical approval from REK (#891721).

Balance analysis
Postural sway (accelerometry) with and without haptic input from light fingertip touch under three varying sensory conditions – eyes open, eyes closed and a non-compliant (foam) surface. 

Clinical testing
CMT Neuropathy 2 | Mini-BESTest | Activity Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) | 10m Walk Test | Muscle Strength

Project Team

For any information related to this project, please contact Fredrik Hellem Stenseth (stefre@ous-hf.no) or  Tarun Arora (tararo@ous-hf.no)