Browse the latest research summaries in the field of assistive technology for spinal cord injury patients and caregivers.
Showing 551-560 of 581 results
Arch Phys Med Rehabil, 2014 • March 1, 2014
This study compared the metabolic cost, performance, and efficiency of a novel ergonomic hand drive mechanism (EHDM) with a conventional manual wheelchair (CMW) in a group of full-time manual wheelcha...
KEY FINDING: Participants traveled significantly farther and faster with the CMW compared to the EHDM.
BioMed Research International, 2014 • April 23, 2014
This study investigated the use of the Toyra virtual reality system to assess upper limb rehabilitation in patients with spinal cord injury. Kinematic data was recorded during evaluation sessions, and...
KEY FINDING: Positive correlations were found between clinical scales and kinematic data, particularly with subscales closely related to upper limb function.
The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 2014 • January 1, 2014
This study aimed to determine the discriminative ability of three functional tests (10MWT, FTSST, and TUGT) in independent ambulatory subjects with SCI who used different ambulatory assistive devices ...
KEY FINDING: Persons not using AADs performed significantly better than those using AADs in all tests.
The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 2013 • January 1, 2013
This case report examined the impact of using a mobility assistance dog (ADMob) on upper limb (U/L) effort during manual wheelchair ramp ascent in an individual with a spinal cord injury (SCI). The st...
KEY FINDING: The total and tangential forces applied to the handrim were reduced when using the ADMob, indicating less effort required for propulsion.
IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng, 2014 • May 1, 2014
This study designs and evaluates a feedforward FES controller for flexible motor outputs, addressing challenges like decoupled control, redundancy, and nonlinear interactions in multi-muscle systems. ...
KEY FINDING: The magnitude of the total RMS error over a grid in the volume of achievable isometric endpoint force targets was 11% of the total range of achievable forces.
PLoS ONE, 2013 • October 11, 2013
This pilot study investigated the feasibility of combining Lokomat-assisted walking with a motor learning task to enhance motor performance and active participation. The study found that participants,...
KEY FINDING: Repeated practice of the motor-learning task resulted in significant reductions in target-tracking error in all subjects.
J Biomech, 2014 • January 3, 2014
This study introduces a custom biomechanical model to quantify upper extremity joint dynamics in pediatric manual wheelchair users (MWU). The model was used to evaluate a 17-year-old male with SCI, re...
KEY FINDING: The subject exhibited wrist extension angles up to 60°, indicating a high degree of wrist strain during wheelchair propulsion.
Frontiers in Neurology, 2013 • November 13, 2013
The recovery of functional movements following injury to the central nervous system (CNS) is multifaceted and is accompanied by processes occurring in the injured and non-injured hemispheres of the br...
KEY FINDING: Performing motor tasks with robot-mediated assistance can modulate neural activity compared to un-assisted or active voluntary movements in healthy subjects and stroke patients.
Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal, 2013 • June 5, 2013
The letter addresses the limited research evaluating the performance of external powered orthoses (EPOs) for paraplegic subjects. It highlights the lack of clinical studies and the questionable qualit...
KEY FINDING: Most research on external powered orthoses focuses on introducing the devices without clinical studies.
Sensors, 2014 • January 22, 2014
This paper presents a Markov Jump Linear Systems (MJLS)-based approach for position estimation in lower limb exoskeletons, designed for rehabilitation of stroke and spinal cord injured patients. The a...
KEY FINDING: The proposed Markovian estimation model demonstrates advantages compared to the standard Kalman filter approach, particularly when the system is subject to parametric uncertainties.