Figure 8. Prosthetic stimulation can drive reflexes and help restore balance.

(A) Providing head velocity information in the anterior canal plane through a prosthesis during gaze shifts in a rhesus macaque reduces overall head motion. Adapted from Figure 6 from Thompson et al., 2016. (B) Stimulating the vertical (anterior, green and posterior, blue) semicircular canals individually in humans drives postural sway (solid lines) in the direction of that canal’s plane (dotted lines). Adapted from Figure 3 from Phillips et al., 2013. (C) Stimulating all three semicircular canals independently with a prosthesis leads to improved scores on dynamic gait index and timed up and go tests, important clinical tests of posture and gait during everyday activities. Adapted from Figure 2 from Chow et al., 2021.