J Physiol, 2005 · DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2005.094516 · Published: October 20, 2005
This study explores a novel rehabilitative therapy, intraspinal microstimulation (ISMS), for restoring movement after spinal cord injury. ISMS involves stimulating the ventral spinal cord using fine microwires. The study compares ISMS to peripheral nerve cuff stimulation (NCS) to understand the muscle recruitment characteristics of each method. The research reveals that ISMS preferentially recruits fatigue-resistant muscle fibers, while NCS tends to recruit fast-twitch fatigable fibers.
ISMS shows promise as a rehabilitative therapy for restoring standing and walking after spinal cord injury due to its preferential recruitment of fatigue-resistant fibers and gradual force generation.
The gradual force recruitment with ISMS suggests it could allow for finer motor control compared to traditional NCS methods.
ISMS's ability to selectively recruit different muscle fiber types could be harnessed to maintain a mixed muscle phenotype in chronic spinal cord injury cases.