ELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE MYOGRAPHY IN ALS

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中利用 资源由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目和 调查员(PI)可能从NIH的另一个来源获得了主要资金， 并因此可以在其他清晰的条目中表示。列出的机构是 该中心不一定是调查人员的机构。 评估阻止或减缓肌萎缩侧索硬化症(ALS)进展的新疗法的试验在很大程度上取决于评估潜在治疗是否有效的结果测量方法的使用。结果衡量标准越有效，需要登记的患者就越少，试验时间就越短。多年来，已经使用了许多结果测量方法，包括力量评估、呼吸测试、功能状态调查和神经测试，但都远未达到理想水平。一种名为电阻抗肌图(EIM)的新方法似乎特别有前景，因为它从一个测试阶段到下一个测试阶段提供非常一致的数据，对ALS发生的肌肉恶化敏感，并且完全无痛和非侵入性。在这项研究中，来自多个机构的研究人员计划对大约120名ALS患者进行包括EIM在内的几种不同结果测量的比较，每个患者都被跟踪一年。所有这些措施都将相互比较，并对它们检测疾病进展的能力进行评估。我们的目标将是确定EIM是否可以作为一种有价值的新结果衡量标准，最终导致需要更少患者的ALS试验更快、更有效。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Trials evaluating new therapies for stopping or slowing the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) depend critically upon the use of outcome measures to assess whether a potential treatment is effective. The more effective an outcome measure, the fewer patients need to be enrolled and the shorter the trial. Many outcome measures have been used over the years, including strength assessments, breathing tests, functional status surveys, and nerve testing, but all are far from ideal. A new method, called electrical impedance myography (EIM) appears to be especially promising in that it provides very consistent data from one testing session to the next, is sensitive to the muscle deterioration that occurs in ALS, and is entirely painless and non-invasive. In this study, investigators from multiple institutions plan to compare several different outcome measures, including EIM, in approximately 120 ALS patients, with each patient being followed for a period of one year. All of these measures will be compared to one another and an assessment of their ability to detect disease progression made. Our goal will be to determine whether EIM can serve as a valuable new outcome measure, ultimately leading to substantially faster, more effective ALS trials requiring fewer patients.