Vibroacoustic and vibrotactile devices that transmit sound as vibration to the body have developed over the last 15 years, and have been reported anecdotally to produce relaxation and reductions in muscle tone, blood pressure and heart rate. Vibroacoustic (VA) therapy is used in clinical treatment and involves a stimulus that is a combination of sedative music and pulsed, sinusoidal low frequency tones between 20Hz and 70Hz, played through a bed or chair containing large speakers. There is limited evidence to support the efficacy of VA therapy in the clinical situations in which it is used. The studies in this thesis investigated the clinical effect of VA therapy, and the effect of elements of the stimulus on non-clinical subjects.
The Effects of Vibroacoustic Therapy on Clinical and Non-Clinical Populations (Thesis)