Resilience in Persons Following Spinal Cord Injury
Spinal Cord InjuriesThis study aims to quantify resilience in survivors of a spinal cord injury. The study will consist of structured interviews and self-reported surveys. We will look for common themes between participants at different stages of injury (1-5 years, 5-15 years, >15 Years).
Recovery of Walking in Persons With Complete Spinal Cord Injury
Spinal Cord InjuriesWe documented the impact of 1 year of underwater treadmill training and supplemental overground walk training in five adults with chronic motor-complete SCI (cSCI) who had not undergone programmed epidural spinal cord stimulation (eSCS).
TEleRehabilitation Nepal (TERN) to Improve Quality of Life of People With Spinal Cord Injury and...
Spinal Cord Injuries; Traumatic Brain Injury; Acquired Brain InjuryStrokeNepal is a low-income country with over 3 million individuals with physical disabilities and currently no government-run specialist rehabilitation services. The aim of this research proposal is to work in partnership with a Nepal Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), the Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Centre (SIRC, Nepal) to achieve the following: estimate the rehabilitation needs in individuals after stroke, brain injury and spinal cord injury in rural communities after discharge from SIRC hold user and stakeholder workshops to explore the role of multidisciplinary teleconferencing methods for remote assessment and management and agree systems for piloting deploy and pilot a novel telerehabilitation system to improve the lives of these individuals, and evaluate it in terms of feasibility and acceptability
Biofeedback Treatment of Anxiety Associated With Chronic Spinal Cord Injury
Spinal Cord InjuriesAnxiety2 moreThe purpose of this research is to test the feasibility of an intervention using biofeedback to treat stress and anxiety among individuals with tetraplegia. The expected duration of participation in this study is about 5 hours over the course of about 5 weeks. Participants will be randomly assigned to either a biofeedback training intervention or a control group. After completing questionnaires, participants will undergo physiological monitoring for the purpose of measuring heart rate and breathing. Those assigned to the biofeedback group will undergo 20 minutes of physiological monitoring while also participating in biofeedback training twice a week for 4 weeks (8 sessions) from home. Those assigned to the control group will undergo 20 minutes of physiological monitoring twice a week for 4 weeks (8 sessions) from home, but will not receive biofeedback training. Each session is expected to last 30 minutes to allow for completion of questionnaires over the the phone prior to and following each training session. It is hypothesized that the biofeedback intervention will demonstrate high feasibility and compared to those in the control group, participants who receive the biofeedback intervention will attain greater pre-post reductions in both physiological and self-reported stress.
Enhancing STDP After Spinal Cord Injury
Spinal Cord InjuryThe overall goal is to develop new clinical approaches to restore limb function after spinal cord injury (SCI). Corticospinal tract (CST) axons are involved in controlling limb function. Paired pulse induced spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) enhances synaptic strength between residual CST axons and spinal motoneurons (SMNs) resulting in temporary improvements in limb function in humans with incomplete SCI. Motor training will be combined with paired-pulse STDP stimulation to further enhance plasticity and behavioral recovery.
Identify Training Strategies for Progressing Exoskeleton Users Towards Everyday Functional Ambulation...
Spinal Cord InjuryMany people with spinal cord injury are no longer able to walk and must use wheelchairs for mobility. These individuals experience greater rates of depression and lower quality of life. Many of these individuals express a strong desire to walk again, and report many psychosocial benefits to being eye to eye with peers in social interactions. Additionally, wheelchairs allow only limited community access, creating an additional obstacle to seeking out meaningful social roles in the community. Currently, there is new technology called robotic exoskeletons that would allow people with spinal cord injury to walk. These robotic exoskeletons also allow for curb, ramp, and stair negotiation, which are critical to community access. Current research has examined training with robotic exoskeletons indoors over level surfaces in clinical settings. This study will examine the potential for everyday use, including ramps, stairs, curbs and indoor and outdoor use.
Abdominal Functional Electrical Stimulation (AFES) to Assist Ventilator Weaning in Tetraplegia
Spinal Cord InjuryTetraplegiaCompromised respiratory function as a result of tetraplegia leads to many tetraplegics requiring mechanical ventilation during the acute phase of injury. Mechanical ventilation is associated with additional costs to the local health care provider and reduced quality of life of the patient. Electrical stimulation of the abdominal muscles has previously been used to improve the respiratory function of tetraplegic patients in the chronic stage of injury. In this study the investigators aim to evaluate whether electrical stimulation of the abdominal muscles can assist the process of weaning from mechanical ventilation in acute ventilator dependent spinal cord injured patients.
Prevention of Orthostatic Hypotension With Electric Stimulation in Persons With Acute SCI
Spinal Cord InjuryOrthostatic HypotensionBackground: The presence of orthostatic hypotension (OH) as a consequence of blood volume redistribution during verticalisation in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) is a common condition. Aims: To investigate the impact of three different types of electric stimulation (ES) (ES of the abdominal muscles versus ES of lower limb muscles versus simultaneously ES of abdominal and lower limb muscles versus control) on blood pressure stabilization and verticalisation-degrees between 0° and 70°. The hypothesis is, that the ES-induced contractions of the muscles cause a stabilisation respectively an increase of the blood pressure during the tilt-table test. Subjects: 20 Women and men, at least 18 years of age, following an acute and traumatic SCI, with a lesion level above T6, an American Spinal Injury Association (AIS) Impairment Scale A,B or C and a diagnosis of OH (by tilt table test) were eligible for the study. Methods: Each patient underwent randomly three different types of ES sessions while being positioned on a tilt-table. The following sessions were planned: A) ES of the abdominal muscles B) ES of the lower limb muscles C) Combination of A and B D) Control session (=diagnostic session) Study type: Intervention Design: Prospective interventional study
Restoring Arm and Hand Function With Non-invasive Spinal Stimulation
ParalysisSpinal Cord InjuryThis study is to determine if non-invasive electrical stimulation of the spinal cord can help improve hand and arm function in people with paralysis who suffered a cervical spinal cord injury.
A Randomised, Cross-over, Open-labelled Test Catheter Acceptance Study
Spinal Cord InjuriesThe purpose of this study is to evaluate that the test catheter is no less accepted than the SpeediCath (SC) catheter.