Tetrax

Tetrax

Diagnose
Monitor
Biofeedback
Rehabilitate
Evaluate performance
Assess fall risk

Tetrax, a revolutionary posturographic balance assessment and biofeedback device, is designed to measure balance and stability in the individual and provide balance training.

• Unique four points of reference for accurate results
• Reveals the sources of instability
• Measures and monitors the rehabilitation process
• Provides comparison to normative data and patient’s previous results
• Quick (5-minute), non-invasive measurement procedure – convenient for repeated testing
• Biofeedback software with more than 10 different challenge exercises

Balance Testing: A Critical Factor For Disease And Injury Management
Conditions that affect balance include stroke, heart problems, diabetes, vision-related diseases, orthopedic problems, bone and joint diseases, and more. In addition, up to 50% of senior citizens are at risk of falling and 20-30% of all adults suffer from episodes of dizziness at least once a year. These balance problems can lead to falls and ultimately to hip fractures, a major health concern with broad implications which frequently leads to loss of independence. Tetrax is an essential diagnostic tool for all patients at risk,which serves, alongside bone strength measured by the Sunlight Omnisense (see back), as an important factor in physicians’ decisions about treatment.

Revealing The Sources Of Instability
Experts have learned that balance data is a crucial source of information for the proper diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of many conditions and injuries. With instability leading to falls and difficulty in daily performance, balance testing is vital for patients’ quality of life. An accurate assessment of balance, carried out at the physician’s office, can forestall health problems by revealing the sources of disability, and guide the physician in choosing treatment and rehabilitation options for patients. Tetrax also has the ability to monitor the changes in an individual patient during the course of treatment in a quantitative and subjective way - providing a reliable method for the physician to design and follow up treatment programs.

Tetrax - Four Points Of Reference For Accurate Balance Testing
Designed to assess balance and diagnose stability problems, Tetrax is the only system available that measures balance at four different reference points, each yielding separate signals of pressure fluctuations. This enables the evaluation of sway patterns for each of the four foot parts and assessment of the interaction between them, obtaining, in addition to traditional measures of stability, new parameters of postural control such as synchronizations, diagonal weight shifts, and weight distribution harmony. These balance parameters, which provide important diagnostic information for the physician, are not available on any other posturographic device.

Four points of reference provide:
• Synchronizations between heel and toe pressure patterns
• Diagonal weight shifts
• Weight distribution harmony
• Fourier spectral patterns derived from four sources of sway

Fall Index Graph

The Role Of Posturography In Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation efforts are designed to improve performance and quality of life after an injury or other event – and the same parameters that affect these factors are easily assessed by balance measurement. Several of Tetrax parameters, notably weight distribution and synchronization, can accurately pinpoint the source of orthopedic problems and describe the mechanisms patients use to cope with these problems. Tetrax results can help rehabilitation specialists decide what exercises the patient must focus on to improve their performance. During rehabilitation, physicians and physiotherapists have found that performance can be tracked successfully when rehabilitation exercises are backed up by repeated Tetrax testing for the purposes of follow-up. Moreover, Tetrax biofeedback exercises can help patients improve abilities and performance.

Postural Summary Sheet

The Bottom Line
The ultimate goal of rehabilitation professionals is to restore or increase performance of the individual to improve his quality of life. Tetrax information, monitoring, and biofeedback can help rehabilitation specialists and other health care professionals meet these goals to the best of their ability.

Tetrax is used by physicians and therapists to help determine:
• Foci for rehabilitation efforts
• Treatment modalities for problems revealed by balance assessment
• Progress of rehabilitation from injuries
• Effects of a specific sport on athletes’ abilities
• Timing and frequency of formal or informal sports training and activities

An Unbeatable Combination
Sunlight Omnisense, the only multi-site ultrasound-based bone measurement device available, fills the need for a simple and accurate way for physicians to measure bone strength in their clinics for on-the-spot results. Its unique along-thebone axial transmission technology eliminates the effect of soft tissue on measurement, and its multi-site testing capability makes it a popular choice for primary care bone testing worldwide. Tetrax can be added onto the Omnisense device to create a powerful diagnostic combination of the two most important factors in fall risk – balance problems and low bone strength.

Clinically Established
Studies carried out with Tetrax in research centers and hospitals around the world have shown that the device can accurately diagnose stability problems and pinpoint their source. Results, which reflect a number of parameters in addition to general stability, are more sensitive and more exact than results produced by traditional static and dynamic posturographic devices. These studies measured stability in healthy normal populations (including analysis of pilots and effects of fatigue and various drugs) and sick populations (suffering from frequent falls, dizziness, diabetes, cataracts, etc.), indicating wide mapplicability and utility of the device.

References
Alpini D., Cesarani A., Fraschini F., Kohen-Raz R., Capobianco S., Cornelio F., Aging and Vestibular System: Specific Tests and Role of Melatonin in Cognitive Involvement,
Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Supplement 9 (2004) 13-25
Alpini D., Capobianco S., Cesarani A., Marin F., Maggi M., Kohen-Raz R., The Correlation between Dental Occlusion and Posture Evaluated by Means of Tetra-ataxiometry,
Archives for Sensology and Neurootology in Science and Practice, ASN. ISSN 1612-3352. Proceedings of the XXX Congress of the NES-Oporto-Portugal, p 7 (2003)
Arce, F., The scaling of postural adjustments during bimanual load-lifting in traumatic brain-injured adults, Human Movement Science, 22 (2004) 749-768
Laufer Y., The effect of walking aids on balance and weight bearing patterns of hemiparetic patients in various stance positions, Physical Therapy, 2003, 83(2):112-122
Laufer Y., Dickstein R., Chefet Y., Marcovitz E., The Effect of Treadmill Training on the Ambulation of Stroke Survivors in the Early Stage of Rehabilitation, Accepted for publication,
Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development
Laufer Y., Dickstein Y., Resnik S., Marcovitz E., Weight bearing shifts of hemiparietal and healthy adults upon stepping on stairs of various heights, Clinical Rehabilitation, 2000,
14, 125 - 129
Ratzon N., Froom P., Leikin R., Kristal-Boneh E., Ribak J., The effect of lead exposure on postural control in workers. British Journal of Industrial Medicine., 2000, 57 (3), 201 - 203
Shub Y., Kohen-Raz A., Kohen-Raz R., Ashkenazi I.E., Combination effects of circadian variations and fatigue assessment by Flight Simulator and Multiplate Posturography, Proceedings
of the Tenth International Symposium on Aviation Psychology, The Ohio State Department of Aviation Psychology, Columbus, Ohio, 1999
Schwartz S., Segal O., Barkana Y., Shwesig R., Avni I., Morad Y., The Effect of Cataract Surgery on Postural Control, Accepted for publication, Investigative Ophthalmology and
Visual Science, 2005