Invasive and Non-Invasive Approaches of Electrical Stimulation to Improve Physical Functioning after Spinal Cord Injury

This review of literature provides the latest evidence involving invasive and non-invasive uses of electrical stimulation therapies that assist in restoring functional abilities and the enhancement of quality of life in those with spinal cord injuries. The review includes neuromuscular electrical stimulation and functional electrical stimulation activities that promote improved body composition changes and increased muscular strength, which have been shown to improve abilities in activities of daily living. Recommendations for optimizing electrical stimulation parameters are also reported. Electrical stimulation is also used to enhance the skills of reaching, grasping, standing, and walking, among other activities of daily living. Additionally, we report on the use of invasive and non-invasive neuromodulation techniques targeting improved mobility, including standing, postural control, and assisted walking. We attempt to summarize the effects of epidural stimulation on cardiovascular performance and provide a mechanistic explanation to the current research findings. Future trends such as the combination of epidural stimulation and exoskeletal-assisted walking are also discussed.

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Towards parameters and protocols to recommend FES-Cycling in cases of paraplegia: a preliminary report

European Journal of Translational Myology ◽

10.4081/ejtm.2016.6085 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Juliana Araujo Guimarães ◽

Lucas Oliveira da Fonseca ◽

Clarissa Cardoso dos Santos-Couto-Paz ◽

Antônio Padilha Lanari Bó ◽

Charles Fattal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Electrical Stimulation ◽

Preliminary Report ◽

Spinal Cord Injuries ◽

Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation ◽

Initial Sample ◽

Vertebral Level ◽

Cord Injury ◽

Functional Features

Functional Electrical Stimulation assisted cycling (FES-Cycling) is increasingly becoming an alternative option recommended to people with spinal cord injury struggling with paraplegia and interested in practicing sports. In order to propose preconditions to guide FES-Cycling recommendation, we aimed to investigate some features and their potential relationships with responsiveness to Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES). Fourteen volunteers attended a public recruitment forum to be assessed about their responsiveness through the 16-sessions of NMES. Volunteers were separated in two groups (responsive and non-responsive to NMES) which were investigated in the light of some personal, clinical, structural and functional features. Fifty seven percent of the initial sample responded to electrical stimulation with a visual contraction. This responsive group was predominantly composed by subjects presenting traumatic spinal cord injuries above T12 vertebral level. Only two subjects became responsive at the 3rd and 16th sessions. Among the observed features, the etiology and level of injuries seems to be more associated to responsiveness. Our observations seem to indicate that subjects with traumatic spinal cord injury above T12 level were the best potential candidates for FES-cycling.

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Late Breaking Abstract - Neuromuscular electrical stimulation of the respiratory muscles based on breathing modelization in a mouse model of cervical spinal cord injury

10.1183/13993003.congress-2021.pa617 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Thibaut Coustillet ◽

Florence Cayetanot ◽

Laurence Bodineau ◽

Isabelle Vivodtzev

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Electrical Stimulation ◽

Mouse Model ◽

Cervical Spinal Cord ◽

Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation ◽

Respiratory Muscles ◽

Cervical Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Cord Injury ◽

Stimulation Of

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The Effect of Intraspinal Micro Stimulation With Variable Stimulating Pattern in Adult Rat With Induction of Spinal Cord Injury in the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injuries

International Clinical Neuroscience Journal ◽

10.15171/icnj.2019.17 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 83-91

Author(s):

Mohaddeseh Hedayatzadeh ◽

Hamid Reza Kobravi ◽

Maryam Tehranipour

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Electrical Stimulation ◽

Spinal Cord Injuries ◽

Animal Movement ◽

Specific Treatment ◽

Male Rats ◽

Gait Dynamics ◽

Variable Pattern ◽

Cord Injury

Background: Spinal cord injury is one of the diseases that, no specific treatment has yet found despite the variety of works that have done in this field. Different approaches to treat such injuries have investigated today. One of them is invasive intra-spinal interventions such as electrical stimulation. Therefore, in this study, the effect of the protocol for intra-spinal variable and fixed electrical stimulation has been investigated in order to recover from spinal cord injury. Methods: In the study, 18 Wistar male rats randomly divided into Three groups, including intraspinal electrical stimulation (IES), IES with variable pattern of stimulation (VP IES) and a sham group. Animals initially subjected to induced spinal cord injury. After one week, the animal movement was recorded on the treadmill during practice using a camera and angles of the ankle joint were measured using the Tracker software. Then, the obtained data were analyzed by nonlinear evaluations in the phase space. Results: The motion analyses and kinematic analyses were carried out on all groups. According to the achieved results, the gait dynamics of the VP IES group has the most conformity to the gait dynamics of the healthy group. Also, the best quality of the balance preservation observed in the VP IES group. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the IES with variable pattern of stimulation along with exercise therapy has significant gait restorative effects and increases the range of motion in rats with induced spinal cord injury.

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