The purpose of the study is to determine if intermittent compression of the lower legs can help to maintain brain blood flow in an older population when moving to an upright posture. Results from this study will help to determine if intermittent compression can be used as a method to help maintain brain blood flow and potentially reduce the risk of falls in an older population.
Project Status: CompleteFalls are the leading cause of injury for older adults in Canada and can occur for many reasons, including poor blood pressure control and reduced blood flow to the brain when standing up.
The purpose of this project was to find out if a system to intermittently squeeze the lower legs could help maintain brain blood flow when standing up from a seated position.
Participants were asked to move from sitting to standing while the lower legs were squeezed by a compression device. While they did this, an ultrasound was used to measure the amount of blood going to the brain.
Results show applying intermittent pressure to the lower legs can help maintain blood pressure and brain blood flow and can aid in the development of technologies to help reduce the risk of falls.
