Active clinical trials for "Paralysis"

Recent evidence suggested that Action Observation Therapy (AOT), based on observation of actions followed by immediate reproduction, could be a useful rehabilitative strategy for promoting functional recovery of children affected by Unilateral Cerebral Palsy (UCP). The AOT is based on the discovery of mirror neurons, a class of visuomotor neurons that are activated when the individual performs a targeted action, both when observing the same action performed by another individual. An important assumption of AOT is that the mirror system, thanks to its visuomotor properties, is able to coordinate visual information with the observer's motor experience. Indeed, the actions outside the individual's behavioral repertoire are elaborated and categorized only on the basis of visual characteristics, without inducing any phenomenon of motor resonance in the observer's brain. Therefore, given the deficiency of their motor repertoire, children affected by UCP could have a reduced activation of the mirror system during the observation of actions performed by healthy subjects. Nevertheless, this activation could increase during the observation of the same actions performed by a subject with similar motor strategies, due to a similar form of hemiplegia. The present project is a randomized controlled clinical trial to verify the influence of the observed model on the effectiveness of AOT in the rehabilitation of the affected upper limb in children with UCP. In particular, the study will verify whether the rehabilitation through AOT based on a pathological model (improving the patient's current abilities) gives more results than AOT based on a typical (healthy) development model, as reported by all the documented researches in literature. Furthermore, to investigate the functional reorganization of the sensorimotor system after rehabilitative treatment, a subgroup of participants will be subjected to a fMRI session (Functional Magnetic Resonance), to verify functional changes, comparing data before and after AOT.

The present study examined the effect of motivation on home exercise program and children's functional scores. 33 OBPP children (Narakas Type 2) aged between 0-18 months were divided into two groups. Intervention group was motivated via phone. Both groups were informed about OBPP, performed home exercises and filled exercise diary. Intrinsic Motivation Scale was used for measuring motivation and Gilbert and Raimondi Scoring and Active Movement Scoring were used for evaluating functional improvements at first assessment, 6th week and 12th week. For final comparison, parents were divided into two more groups (highly motivated and motivated group) based on motivation scores.

To establish a pilot randomized, crossover study on applying 2 constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) interventions in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy after botulinum toxin injection during preschool education.

The aim of this study was to research the effects of hippotherapy simulator in children with Cerebral Palsy. In order to evaluate its effectiveness, assessment of gross motor functions, lower extremity functions, muscle tone and spasticity, trunk control, sitting and standing balance, walking functions and functional independence were being applied.

One of the most frequently performed peripheral nerve blocks (the injection of local anesthetic near nerves to block sensation/ movement to a specific part of the body) is the interscalene brachial plexus block for upper extremity surgeries. This type of block can unmask underlying respiratory issues such as shortness of breath due to a well-known and typically insignificant side effect of temporary diaphragmatic paralysis. The nerve block may be able to use saline solution to wash out the local anesthetic and potentially reverse this respiratory side effect. Specifically, the goal of this study is to determine if the injection of saline through the nerve block catheter reverses blockade of the phrenic nerve supplying the diaphragm, without affecting the ability of the nerve block to provide pain control after surgery.

This study will investigate the safety and efficacy of a silk protein microparticle-based filler for vocal fold injection augmentation to treat dysphonia/dysphagia secondary to vocal fold paralysis. Participants will receive one injection and follow-up for a planned period of 12 months.

The proposed study will test the feasibility and effectiveness of a "Magic Camp" in children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP). A single group pretest-posttest design (n=10) will be used to investigate the immediate (2 weeks) and longer-term effect (3 months) of a "Magic Camp" on improving upper limb motor function and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in children with hemiplegic CP.

The purpose of this study is to investigate brain reorganization, functional motor development, level of daily living activity and quality of life of upper extremity mirror therapy in children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Several studies have reported increased use of the affected arm following rearrangement of cerebral re-organization with mirror therapy. The investigator's study is the first of its kind and was planned to evaluate the effectiveness of upper extremity mirror therapy in cerebral reorganization and functional motor skills in children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Hypothesis of this study is that mirror therapy improves brain re-organisation, functional motor skills and daily living activities in unilateral spastic CP.

Inadequate recovery from Bell's palsy is not uncommon and as consequence, physical and social impairment are exist in these patients. The medical options for chronic condition of Bell's palsy are insufficient. Low-level laser therapy has shown a favorable prognosis in the regeneration of peripheral nerves. Moreover, laser acupuncture therapy (LAT) become widely used method to stimulate acupuncture points, but its efficacy as treatment method for Bell's palsy and during the chronic stage is unclear.

VA research has been advancing a high-performance brain-computer interface (BCI) to improve independence for Veterans and others living with tetraplegia or the inability to speak resulting from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinal cord injury or stoke. In this project, the investigators enhance deep learning neural network decoders and multi-state gesture decoding for increased accuracy and reliability and deploy them on a battery-powered mobile BCI device for independent use of computers and touch-enabled mobile devices at home. The accuracy and usability of the mobile iBCI will be evaluated with participants already enrolled separately in the investigational clinical trial of the BrainGate neural interface.