Welcome to Balance Metrix – supplier of Balance Mat technology
Balance Metrix partners with exercise physiology and physiotherapy practitioners to test and train seniors’ balance in residential aged care and community settings as an innovative falls risk mitigation strategy – the Better Balance Initiative. We also supply Balance Mat products to the aged care, medical, nursing, exercise physiology, neurological physiotherapy and balance teaching and research communities on a sale or subscription basis and offer balance testing services to doctors and residential aged care service providers. Read more here.
Building the Better Balance Initiative
Charlie Gordon (pictured at left with Sandra McLennan, Valrae Lamb, Gwen Pentlow and Sandra McCallum) is our first allied health partner to complete the Better Balance Initiative. Charlie conducted a 10-week balance testing & training program at Bolton Clarke The Terraces, Varsity Lakes, Gold Coast. (Residents’ names and images used with permission.) Our other allied health partners (pictured below) are: AEP Jo MacAllan from MacAllan Health and consultant physiotherapists Nitish Mathew and Saili Deodhar from Highland Physios.
Charlie Gordon
Jo MacAllan
Nitish Mathew
Saili Deodhar
Here’s what Clinical AEP Danny Miller says about the Balance Mat:
“As a mobile exercise physiologist, the Balance Mat has become an indispensable tool in my clinical practice. This highly portable and user-friendly device enables precise, objective assessment of clients’ balance both pre- and post-intervention, providing valuable data to guide treatment plans and evaluate outcomes. The ability to quantify balance performance not only supports evidence-based practice but also enhances client engagement by offering tangible proof of progress over time.
What sets the Balance Mat apart is its utility in multidisciplinary care. The detailed reports I generate from the balance assessments are highly regarded by GPs and specialists, who appreciate the objective metrics reflecting their patients’ functional improvements. These reports strengthen collaborative relationships by ensuring transparency and demonstrating the clinical effectiveness of exercise-based interventions.
From a scientific perspective, the Balance Mat aligns well with current best practices in balance assessment and rehabilitation. Its integration of reliable metrics and ease of use makes it a practical and effective tool for both clinicians and clients. For any exercise professional seeking to deliver data-driven, outcome-focused care, the Balance Mat is a valuable asset.”
View a video of Danny’s client Paula on the Balance Mat.
View some other testimonials.
Clinical Exercise Physiologist Danny Miller is Director of Rehab on the Road and Founder of World Clinical Exercise Physiology Day.
The Balance Mat works on a computer or laptop running Windows 10 or 11 or macOS. It is a quick, easy and portable way of testing a client’s postural sway or “balance” – the higher the score the poorer the balance.
How does the technology work?
The Balance Mat enables a series of 20-second balance tests in various well-known balance testing stances: normal (with feet apart), feet together, tandem, semi tandem, left foot, right foot. The photographs below are of the Multimetric Balance Mat, which does not have the feet together stance. A sensor in the Balance Mat uses fibre-optic cable and proprietary algorithms to sense and record the continuous postural adjustments (or postural sway) of a person standing on the mat: the higher the score the poorer the person’s balance.
You can manage what you can measure.
Our world-first Australian balance measurement system enables allied health and medical professionals and researchers to test people’s postural sway or “balance” in a sequence of 20 second tests. Clients are asked to stand as still as they can on a lightweight computerised floor mat with their arms by their sides.
The Balance Mat is an excellent outcome-measure, exercise-prescription and rehabilitation tool. It can help determine falls risk and assist in rehabilitation after stroke, heart attack and injury, particularly injury resulting in left- and right-leg balance asymmetry and concussion. It can also be used for monitoring the balance of people with medical conditions like diabetes and neurological conditions like Parkinson’s disease.
The Balance Mat is a bonus for aged care service providers since it classifies residents into low, medium and high postural sway categories. Balance Mat test reports can be added to residents’ multifactorial fall prevention plans. Having these balance metrics at their disposal enables providers to deploy their falls risk mitigation resources where they are most needed.
Results are displayed in real time and stored online.
Results are displayed in real time as a moving graph and score on a computer or laptop running Windows 10 or 11 or macOS and connected to the internet. At the end of each test the balance data is saved online in the Balance Mat test results system at www.balancemat.org for viewing, alongside patient biodata, known health conditions and other relevant notes for comparison over time.
TGA approved
The Balance Mat is listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG). It received Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approval as a Class 1 medical device in December 2021.
Easy to use and portable
The Balance Mat measures 500mm x 700mm and is only 6mm thick, making it easy, safe and non-threatening for older people to stand on and lightweight enough for practitioners to carry around with their laptop, especially if they run a mobile service.
University validated
The Balance Mat has been validated by university testing with high correlations against other balance testing devices such as force plates and inertial sensors.
Balance research currently underway
Current scientific research projects using the Neurometric Balance Mat are:
- a major population health study led by Professor Ecosse Lamoureux at the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI). Professor Lamoureux is using the Balance Mat and other complementary mobility and falls tests to assess the balance and postural stability of 2,000 Singaporeans; and
- a study of the balance and fall risk of older adults being undertaken by University of Canberra PhD student and Balance Mat Pty Ltd electronics engineer Abishek Shrestha under the supervision of Senior Lecturer and human movement researcher Dr Maryam Ghahramani, Professor of Robotics Damith Herath and Associated Professor of Physiotherapy Dr Angie Fearon. Read more in this Hello Leaders story: Machine learning aims to transform falls prediction in aged care.
New research in the pipeline
Sports scientist and former professional Rugby player Dr Trevor Clark and hospital emergency department clinical nurse specialist Dr Doug King – both prolific concussion researchers – have taken delivery of their BESS Balance Mats, conducted a feasibility study and lodged their Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) application with Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand for a study that will examine the incidence of injuries in female rugby league and roller derby participants.
Validation, reliability and acceptability study led by Dr Carol Flavell
Researchers from James Cook University in Townsville led by Balance Metrix Innovation Partner Dr Carol Flavell (pictured, centre, with Prof. Anthony Leicht and Dr Moira Smith with the Balance Mat on top of a force plate) are comparing Balance Mat, force plate and traditional balance assessment methods. To learn more see our blog.
Get repeatable graph and score data for falls risk assessment
After a one-time setup fee of $180, we offer allied health practitioners, residential aged care providers, community centres and general practitioners the Multimetric Balance Mat for only $46.50 per month to subscribe or $1,953 to buy. Alternatively, we offer balance testing services for $36 per person tested.
If you are a neurological rehabilitation practitioner we are taking orders for the StandSure – BalanceMore rehabilitation kit in partnership with London-based Chartered Physiotherapist Ashley Shepherd. Enquiries: margaret@balancemetrix.com.au.
Balance Mat for GPs
Balance Mat inventor Ian Bergman (pictured far left) tested the postural sway of patients at Hastings Medical Centre, Wauchope for six months starting in October 2024. Long-time Balance Mat user Dr Alireza Ahmadvand (left), who has a professional commitment to empowering healthcare professionals in the digital health space, wanted to learn more about this experience. Dr Reza interviewed Ian on 30 January 2025 for a planned podcast aimed at General Practitioners. You can view the transcript here.
