Tone Pacer app for iPhone and iPad

Tone Pacer
Electronic Exercise Coach

The Tone Pacer Electronic Exercise Coach provides audio and visual coaching or cueing to establish and maintain a pace for exercises. Although it is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition, it was originally designed to help our patients who had trouble walking due to Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders. Recent research suggests that auditory and or visual cueing may help patients with walk cadence, timing and movement initiation. (1-3) Furthermore, our choice of tone for the auditory cue is based on research that suggests specific frequencies of auditory stimulation may activate postural and locomotive muscle pathways. (4-5) The Tone Pacer Electronic Exercise Coach is offered as an exercise tool when timing and cadence are desired.

Users should consult with their personal healthcare provider before starting any exercise program or before adding the Tone Pacer Electronic Exercise Coach to their existing exercise routines to determine if they are healthy enough to perform exercises in a safe manner. The Tone Pacer is recommend solely for use as a tool for exercise and a healthy lifestyle.

1: Kim SJ, Kwak EE, Park ES Changes in gait patterns with rhythmic auditory stimulation in adults with cerebral palsy. NeuroRehabilitation. 2011;29(3):233-41. doi: 10.3233/NRE-2011-0698.

2: Vercruysse S, Spildooren J. Abnormalities and cue dependence of rhythmical upper-limb movements in Parkinson patients with freezing of gait. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2012 Jul-Aug;26(6):636-45. doi: 10.1177/1545968311431964..

3: Lee SJ, Yoo JY, Ryu JS. The effects of visual and auditory cues on freezing of gait in patients with Parkinson disease. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2012 Jan;91(1):2-11. doi: 10.1097/PHM.0b013e31823c7507.

4: Isaradisaikul S, Navacharoen N. Cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials: norms and protocols. Int J Otolaryngol. 2012;2012:913515. doi: 10.1155/2012/913515.

5: Viciana D, Lopez-Escamez JA. Short tone bursts are better than clicks for cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials in clinical practice. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2012 Jul;269(7):1857-63. doi: 10.1007/s00405-011-1912

Keywords: Exercise Metronome, Electronic Cadence Coach, Auditory Cueing,

What does the Tone Pacer Electronic Exercise Coach do?

The APP provides a tone that can be programmed to repeat at various speeds much like a music metronome. It can be used to cue walking or any other exercise. The speed of the cueing is controllable and may be set to a comfortable safe exercise pace. It also allows the user to select right sided tone only, left sided tone only, reciprocating tones or bilateral tones. Another feature is a random side and speed function.

Why not just use a standard metronome?

The Toner Pacer Electronic Coach delivers both an auditory cue and visual cue much like a standard metronome, however the characteristics of the tone we use is very similar to tones used in research studies that activate structures in the inner ear called otoliths. These structures cause reflex contraction of postural and locomotion muscles. These tones may actually prep the muscle and prepare them for contraction. For more info visit http://www.kcpv.info/tonepacerap.html