The Physical Therapist’s Guide to Portable, Digital Force Plates
Getting a patient back on their feet after a knee replacement surgery or helping an athlete regain the full range of motion in their arm after a rotator cuff tear is rarely a straightforward endeavor for physical therapists (PTs) – especially if they rely on analog tools and testing methods. When PTs are forced to depend on feel and guesswork to progress patients through a course of therapy, health outcomes can suffer. Patients commonly lose motivation – and stop showing up for their sessions – when they can’t clearly see the progress they’re making.
To optimize training plans and keep patients engaged in their physical therapy journey, PTs need quantitative data and advanced reporting. When PTs have precise, numerical data, they can make better-informed decisions. And, when that data can be shared with patients in easily digestible progress reports, they can see the fruits of their labor – and will remain motivated to complete their course of therapy.
Biofeedback tools, which measure physiological activities, give PTs that granular data. Among the range of devices available, many PTs have found great utility in digital, portable force plates.
What are Digital, Portable Force Plates?
Force plates – or a singular force platform – use force transducers or load cells to measure the ground reaction force (GRF) of a limb or body that is either static or in motion. PTs can use force plates to capture metrics about their patient as they squat, walk, balance or jump.
What Digital Force Plates Measure
Force plates can be used to capture performance metrics related to:
- Strength
- Balance
- Power
- Peak force
- Fatigue
- Limb symmetry
- Jump height
- Gait
Most commercially available force plates send the data they generate to connected software. Depending on the model, that data can usually be organized into reports and shared with the patient or other members of a care team.
How Physical Therapists Can Use Force Plates
PTs can use force plates to provide rehabilitative care for a range of injuries, conditions and illnesses including:
- Upper Body Injuries: Force plates can be used to conduct athletic shoulder (ASH) tests and measure neuromuscular fatigue and force to treat labrum, UCL, shoulder and rotator cuff injuries
- Lower Body Injuries: Force plates can be used to rehabilitate ACL injuries, knee replacements, and strained muscles or tendons with countermovement jump (CMJ) and vertical jump tests
- Strokes: Force plates can measure stability, symmetry and steadiness with center of pressure (COP) metrics
- Neurodegenerative Diseases: Force plates can measure balance and gait with COP and center of gravity (COG) metrics when treating Parkinson’s and similar diseases
The Benefits of Digital Force Plates in Physical Therapy
Portable force plates have become popular among PTs in recent years, thanks to their versatility and precision. To meet the growing demand, an influx of new force plates has emerged.
While the right solution will vary by practice, one brand stands out among the competition: KINVENT. Created for clinicians by biomechanical engineers, KINVENT’s suite of digital biofeedback devices and equipment – including four models of force plates – is one of the only HIPAA-compliant ecosystems available. Data generated by the devices is sent, in real time, to the revolutionary KINVENT Physio App, which allows PTs to create and share reports with the click of a button.
Among many other benefits, KINVENT’s force plates:
- Accurately and quantitatively evaluate a wide range of metrics
- Make it easy to track progress and identify areas of weakness
- Empower PTs to make the best-informed decisions possible
- Motivate patients to remain engaged in their course of therapy
About JLW Instruments
JLW Instruments sells, calibrates and repairs top rated force instruments, including all four models of KINVENT force plates – the K-Force Plates, K-Deltas, K-Deltas XL and K-Deltas 3D – along with the six other biofeedback devices in KINVENT’s suite of tools. We also sell a variety of strength assessment and rehabilitative of dynamometers. In addition to physiotherapy devices, we sell and calibrate pressure gauges, vacuum gauges and vice grips.
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