Michaela Begg is shown here with the latest version of the SMART Balance Master. We took delivery on this device in January, and she's already excited about the possibilities for improved therapy and assessment of patients with balance disorders.
I must say, I'm a bit honored to take Michaela's photo, since she is (when she's not being a physical therapist) an accomplished photographer. (Check out her website here.) She was gracious about the whole process.
Michaela brings 20 years' of experience to our outpatient neuro services: she began her career in Michigan working with some of the original developers of the Balance Master technology. (At that time, it was being developed for some NASA research.)
The SMART Balance Master helps clinicians differentiate between visual and proprioceptive in origins of balance disorders, or whether the problem is due to integration of those two systems. Using the shifting force-plate platform, it allows therapists to do reflex testing, as well. Another feature is the ability to measure visual-ocular reflex, with normative data for comparison. Of course, this tool has many other applications as an adjunct for biofeedback.
Michaela said, "I love the way that once we know where the issues are with balance, then we can set up training on this device, and we also know specifically what to do [in therapy] outside of the machine." She goes on, "Although there's a lot of other tools, I'm constantly surprised at how often I find something that I don't expect [with a patient], or how often I don't find something that I thought that I would find. It's pulling out information that I otherwise can't get using other tests."
We're lucky to have both the SMART Balance Master and Michaela as part of our services!
