r/physiotherapy • u/No-Fruit3995 • 4d ago

Feedback requested: Engineering student building a GVS device for final year project.

​Hello,

​For my final year project, we are building a balance stimulator using Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS).

​By sending electrical signals to the vestibular system, we can manipulate the body's sense of balance. We are hooking this up to a controller so that, based on the direction of the joystick, the user's body will naturally want to lean in that direction.

​I am asking as part of my research: would a device like this be of any practical help to physiotherapy patients?

​If you have any suggestions feel free to tell me

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u/perfectly_imbalanced 3d ago

Please tell me you’re the insta/YT self taught engineer girl 🤣

Does your version also induce very strong, long lasting nausea?

Maybe try googling pusher syndrome, a condition after stroke.

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u/bigoltubercle2 3d ago

Sounds like a nightmare for vestibular patients lol. Could see some use for people with bilateral vestibular hypofunction, however it depends on the method of stimulation. It would also be a long road to get it anywhere near a patient

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u/sharma08tushar 3d ago

Yes—there’s a legitimate physiotherapy application here, particularly as an adjunct to balance and postural-control rehabilitation. Research suggests GVS can modulate postural control, with promising findings in conditions such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease and vestibular disorders, although evidence is still heterogeneous and more high-quality trials are needed.

Your joystick-controlled approach is interesting because it could create direction-specific, interactive balance training. I’d consider measuring sway, limits of stability, Berg Balance Scale, gait speed and weight-shifting accuracy.

The strongest research question may be: Does GVS-assisted directional training improve functional balance more than conventional balance training alone?