CUTANEOUS STIMULATION OF SPASTICITY

该项目的主要目标是为 使用电刺激减少卒中和中风后痉挛 脊髓损伤采用表面皮肤电极。这些实验是 旨在优化刺激参数，以确定 负责反射抑制的传入，绘制出皮肤 刺激部位导致特定肌肉群痉挛减少， 探索假想的脊椎机制来解释观察到的 电刺激对痉挛反应的减效及研究 电疗法治疗痉挛的临床可行性研究 刺激。痉挛程度的减少将在肘部和 测量踝关节对等速坡道的反射反应 偏瘫中风患者的伸展运动。运动类型扭矩和 主要肌肉的肌电图将在持续的时间内进行测量 刺激前、中、后的速度斜率屈伸 评估不同实验方案对个体的影响 研究对象。

The principal objective of this project is to develop the framework for the use of electrical stimulation to reduce spasticity in stroke and spinal cord injury using surface skin electrodes. The experiments are designed to optimize stimulus parameters, to identify the class of afferents responsible for reflex suppression, to map out the cutaneous stimulus sites inducing spasticity reduction of specific muscle groups, to explore hypothetical spinal mechanisms to account for observed spasticity reduction in response to electrical stimulation and study the feasibility of clinical treatment of spasticity with electrical stimulation. Spasticity reduction will be quantified at the elbow and ankle using measurements of the reflex response to constant velocity ramp stretches in hemiparetic stroke patients. Joint torque and electromyograms of the major muscles will be measured during constant velocity ramp flexions and extensions before during and after stimulation to assess the effects of various experimental protocols for individual subjects.