View clinical trials related to Spinal Cord Injuries.
Filter by:Neuralis is an innovative assistive technology designed for individuals with severe neuromuscular conditions, enabling wheelchair control through EEG signals. This study aims to assess the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of Neuralis in restoring mobility and independence. The device is a discreet EEG headset which specializes in decoding signals from visual cortex, allowing users to initiate precise wheelchair movements through focused attention. This research seeks to demonstrate Neuralis' potential in revolutionizing assistive technology by offering a non-invasive, user-friendly solution for individuals facing motor impairments, ultimately enhancing their quality of life.
The purpose of the project is to compare intensity (minutes in target heart rate zone) and steps per session across three gait training modalities, including body-weight supported treadmill training (BWSTT), overground gait training with body weight-support (BWS), and overground gait training utilizing a lower extremity exoskeleton, between patients presenting with varying functional ambulation capacities in the inpatient setting. Additionally, the researchers will compare physical therapist (PT) burden across these modalities and patient functional presentation levels.
This study aims to test if the VR games could be a form of upper limb rehabilitation for people with arm/hand problems due to SCI while they are in hospital. Participants who have had a spinal cord injury and have tetraplegia will be recruited from the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit. After they have provided informed consent, they will receive 12 weeks of either standard upper limb therapy ('control group'), or both the VR activities and standard treatment ('VR Group'). Participants who receive VR activities will engage in immersive VR games that have been designed in co-production with people with tetraplegia and spinal cord injury specialists. The games aim to help participants improve the use of their arms and hands while they are undergoing primary rehabilitation within the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit (QENSIU). The participants who are in the control group will receive their usual rehabilitation and will be given the opportunity to try the VR games after the completion of their involvement in the trial. This study will measure the feasibility (the 'primary outcome') and explore the effectiveness (the 'secondary outcome') of the VR intervention. Feasibility will be measured by recording how often the VR games are used and whether or not participants use the games for the full duration of the trial. Participants and therapists will be interviewed at the end of the trial.
While physical exercise remains the foundation for any rehabilitation therapy, the team seeks to improve the benefits of exercise by combining it with the concept of "Fire Together, Wire Together" - when brain stimulation is synchronized with spinal cord stimulation, nerve circuits in the spinal cord strengthen - a phenomenon termed "Spinal Cord Associative Plasticity", or SCAP. This project will build on the team's promising preliminary findings. When one pulse of brain stimulation is synchronized with one pulse of cervical spinal stimulation, hand muscle responses are larger than with brain stimulation alone or unsynchronized stimulation. However, the team does not know the best ways to apply SCAP repetitively, especially in conjunction with exercise, to increase and extend improvements in clinical function. Do ideal intervention parameters vary across individuals, or do they need to be customized? The team will take a systematic approach with people who have chronic cervical SCI to determine each person's best combination of SCAP with task-oriented hand exercise. Participants will undergo roughly 50 intervention, verification, and follow-up sessions over 6 to 10 months each. The team will measure clinical and physiological responses of hand and arm muscles to each intervention. Regaining control over hand function represents the top priority for individuals with cervical SCI. Furthermore, this approach could be compatible with other future interventions, including medications and cell-based treatments.
After spinal cord injury (SCI), there is a disruption in neural circuits resulting in paralysis. There is not yet a cure for paralysis. In persons with Cervical SCI (pwC-SCI) recovery of arm-hand function is very important as it has a significant impact on the patients' level of independence and quality of life. Recovery is assumed to involve alterations in both central and peripheral motor systems. Motor training at an intensive dosage potentially provides a powerful stimulus for neurological recovery. This project exploits the peripheral and central neuroplastic effect of an early (<10 weeks after injury) and intensive (10 weeks of 12 hours in addition to usual care) upper limb motor training program (EIUMT) directed at recovery below the level of the injury in pwC-SCI within an international multi-center randomized controlled trial including 40 pwC-SCI. It has 4 objectives: to investigate 1)central neural plasticity by identifying alterations in cortical neuroplasticity and corticospinal excitability; 2)peripheral neural plasticity by identifying alteration in axonal excitability and number of motor units; 3)behavioral motor recovery of upper limb and 4)relationships between dose dimensions of motor intervention and behavioral and neurophysiological outcome measures aer EIUMT. Cutting-edge neurophysiological measures are used to provide insight in the mechanism of neuroplasticity after EIUMT and will be taken before and after EIUMT and at 6 months follow-up.
As compared to the general population, those living with a spinal cord injury (SCI) are at a greater risk of cardiovascular (CV) diseases.The investigators know that regular exercise can help lessen the risk of CV diseases. However, those with higher level SCI have a limited ability to exercise due to their loss of function. Heat therapy has been shown to promote significant health benefits in populations with health challenges and has demonstrated a mild exercise like response. The investigators aim to extend these findings and develop a practical passive heat therapy program appropriate for safe home use.
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about how a participation-based intervention builds capacity of youth with physical disabilities to pursue activities of their choice in the community. The investigators plan to examine in what ways working with a therapist to set up and engage in an 8-week self-chosen community-based activity builds capacity of youth with physical disabilities to pursue a new activity of their choice in the community without the support of a therapist. During this study, participants will be followed for 26 weeks. Youth will work with an occupational therapist (OT). - In the first week, the OT will meet with youth to set a community-based leisure goal. Examples of activities could include music, sports, cooking lessons, painting, or photography, in the youth's community. - The OT will work with youth to identify and remove barriers. They will also adapt the activity to help youth do the activity for 8 weeks. During this time, the OT will perform site visits to consult and support youths' involvement as needed. (Weeks #1-8) - Youth will have a four-week break after completing their first activity. (Weeks #9-12). Then, youth will be asked to choose a second (new) activity. They will try to start this activity for 8 weeks without the OT. (Weeks #13-20) - At the end of these 8 weeks, the same therapist will help the youth for 6 weeks if needed to do their second activity. (Weeks #21-26) Youth will be asked to complete the following online: 1. A standard demographic questionnaire (during the first meeting). 2. Rate their perceived performance in the chosen activity once a week. 3. A questionnaire about their daily participation in the community. This will be done at the start and end of the study. 4. A questionnaire about how well they feel they are able to do things. This will be done three times. 5. Share steps they take to participate in the activity. This will be done through a weekly diary entry. In addition, three one-on-one interviews (for about an hour each) will be done remotely (using Microsoft TEAMS) to share their experience pursuing their selected activities. Interviews will be done before starting their second (new) activity, after 8 weeks of pursuing the new activity on their own, and after 6 weeks with OT support. These interviews will be video, and audio recorded and transcribed. This study examines 'real-life' experiences and participation outcomes of youth with physical disabilities after a participation-based capacity-building intervention.
The purpose of this study is to determine if practicing mindfulness breathing exercises has an effect on the overall health of persons with SCI
This proof-of-concept case series will prospectively use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evidence of spared spinal cord neural fibers to guide the selection of 2 research participants to receive a surgically implanted epidural stimulator with the goal of restoring voluntary movement after spinal cord injury (SCI). Because MRI evidence of spared spinal cord neural fibers demonstrated significant relationships with responsiveness to epidural stimulation in SCI in retrospective studies, the proposed study is a traditional feasibility study - a prospective investigation to be used to capture preliminary safety and effectiveness information to determine if MRI can/should be used in planning a future pivotal study.
Regular physical activity improves physical fitness, fatigue, quality of life, gait and reduces progression of the disability in persons with SCI. However, persons with SCI are less physically active than the general population. Approximately 50% of people with SCI experience fatigue which impacts their daily activities. Ischaemic preconditioning (IPC) is exposure of the body to brief periods of circulatory occlusion and reperfusion to protect organs against ischaemic injury. Recent studies have shown that IPC also improves exercise performance in healthy participants. The aim of this study is to determine whether it is feasible to use IPC to improve upper-body exercise performance in people with SCI. Setting: Potential candidates will be identified from the Outpatient clinic at the Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Hospital (PRSCIC), Northern General Hospital, Sheffield. Design: Acute single blind randomised controlled trial. Forty patients with SCI above 18 years and with preserved triceps function to conduct triceps strength testing will be randomised to receive either an IPC or sham intervention. Interventions: IPC will be administered to the upper limb using cuff inflation pressures of 200 mmHg or 60mm Hg above the systolic BP (whichever is higher). Four cycles of cuff inflation each lasting 5 min in duration followed by 5-min period of cuff deflation will be applied. The Sham intervention will be administered with a BP cuff over the upper arm being inflated at a pressure 30mmg Hg below the diastolic blood pressure. The sham cycles will comprise of four cycles of cuff inflation each lasting 5 min in duration followed by 5-min period of cuff deflation. Researchers will assess the feasibility of IPC as well as its efficacy to improve triceps maximal voluntary contraction and endurance compared with Sham.