View clinical trials related to Spinal Cord Injuries.
Filter by:Computers now play an important role in the lives of most individuals.Access to computers is crucial for people with disabilities and may improve their quality of life. The use of computers can facilitate mainstreaming at school, for example, and the Internet may provide a valuable means of communication. However, the use of computers requires a certain degree of motor ability. People with motor disabilities frequently experience difficulties using a standard keyboard and standard pointing input systems such as a mouse. Many solutions exist to facilitate computer access, depending on the person's specific impairments and the purpose for which the computer is used. The most common solution relies on the use of a virtual keyboard which is directly displayed on the computer screen. The selection of the desired key on the virtual keyboard can be handled by a large variety of input devices, from a microgravity mouse to single switch devices supplemented by a process of dynamic scanning of the keyboard.Although such assistive devices render computers accessible to people with disabilities, the actual inputting of text can be very slow. A method to increase text input speed is to display words which are predicted from the letters previously typed. Word prediction reduces the number of necessary key strokes by avoiding having to type the whole word. The effect on text input speed is, however uncertain and results in the literature are inconclusive. Indeed, word prediction software provide a enhancement of cognitive load which decrease text input speed.The reduction of cognitive load could therefore be based in part on the optimization settings of the software and / or achievement of a rehabilitation program.Our hypothesis are for people with spinal cord injury : i) optimization settings word prediction software and ii) a rehabilitation program could improve the text input speed.The investigators propose to study the influence of settings word prediction software on text input speed and the influence of a rehabilitation program provided by a therapist, focused on word prediction software to help integrate them. The aim is to increase the performance of people with spinal cord injury and their satisfaction. The first phase of this research is to select the word prediction software and configuration that provides the best user support.The second phase corresponds to the objective of evaluating the efficiency of a rehabilitation program .
This study is to determine if non-invasive electrical stimulation of the spinal cord can be used to: 1) assess spared function following a spinal cord injury; and 2) be use for rehabilitation.
Introduction: It is known that people with spinal cord injury (SCI) bear a considerably increased risk of developing pressure ulcer, whereby frictional forces and shear forces are recognized as risk factors. It was the aim of the study to examine the effects of a specially developed low-friction hospital bed sheet on skin physiology as well as it's acceptance by patients with SCI. Method: Prospective, randomised crossover study. Patients with a subacute spinal cord injury will be recruited. Each patient spends five consecutive nights on the new, respectively, conventional bed sheet. After the five nights, patients are asked to complete a linear questionnaire (VAS) concerning well-being, odour, perspiration and wrinkling. In addition, the patients are examined daily while still fasting, for skin redness, skin moisture, skin elasticity and skin blood circulation in the parasacral region.
The purpose of this study is to validate an instrumented wheel such as a new biomedical device. The physicians will compare this instrumented wheel with another instrumentation "Ergometer roller", each patient will try the both instrumentations, physical and physiological parameters will be measured. The increase rate of radial power during the cardiac stress test may be more important when the physicians use the instrumented wheel.
Pain affects up to 30% of the general population. In particular, neuropathic pain (NeP) is caused by lesion or desease affecting peripheral or central somatosensory pathways and affects 7% of the adult population. Despite the availability of evidence based pharmacological and surgical treatment for NeP, about 50% of patients remais symptomatic despite best medical treatment. Some neuropathic pain syndromes are specially refractory. In particular, central NeP is caused by disease or lesion to central structures involves in somatosensory integration of nociceptive information is non-responsive to drugs usually employed in other NeP syndromes. Classical neuromodulatory techniques such as conventional repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation aiming at the motor of prefrontal cortices are ineffective to relieve pain in this population. Recently new technology advances have made possible non-invasive stimulation of deeper cortical targets. Some of them are activelly involved in the integration of the perception of pain, such as the anterior cingulate cortex or the posterior insula. The aim this study is to treat 90 patients with central pain (post stroke pain, spinal cord lesions after trauma or demyelinizating diseases) under best medical pharmacological treatment in three different conditions: AAC (n= 30 with the H-Coil), Superior Posterior Insula (SPI) n=30 cooled double cone coil double cool coil, and sham(n=30). Each patients will undergo daily stimulation for a week, then weekly stimulations for 3 months (total of 17 sessions). The main study outcome is pain relief at the last stimulation week (visual-analogic scale). Secondary end-points are changes in the McGill Pain Questionnaire, Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory, DN4 questionnaire, SF -36, brief pain inventory and cognitive assessment including the trail making test A and B, Strrop color interference test, and subscalles from the CERAD. All patients will undergo quantitative sensory test and measurements of cortical excitability over M1 before and after to treatment.
The purpose of this study is to improve the performance of neuroprosthesis for standing after SCI by developing and testing new advanced methods that use multiple contact peripheral nerve electrodes to slow the onset of fatigue and increase standing duration. The new advanced methods will take advantage of the ability of multiple-contact nerve cuff electrodes to selectively activate portions of a muscle that perform the same action. Alternating activation to multiple muscles (or parts of the same muscle) rather than continuously activation the entire muscle group constantly should allow them to rest and recover from fatiguing contractions. This should allow users to remain upright for longer periods of time to perform activities of daily living, reduce the risk of falls due to fatigue, and increase the potential of receiving the health benefits of standing.
This study will look at the use of a telehealth version of a self management program in individuals with both new onset and chronic traumatic spinal cord injuries. The program is called Health Mechanics. It is meant to enhance self management skills related to neurogenic bladder and bowel management to prevent associated problems and improve Quality of Life (QOL). This program is based on the needs and strengths of individuals with SCI. It focuses on enhancing skills, encouraging positive health behaviors, empowering people within their own environments, and recognizing that people differ in their resources and abilities. The skills that are part of the intervention are: attitude, self-monitoring, problem-solving, communication, organization and stress management. This study will address those skills in the context of bladder and bowel health, with expectations that these skills to be useful in other areas of life as well. The investigators hypothesize that individuals in the Health Mechanics intervention group will: - show greater improvements in problem solving skills, healthy attitudes about disability and knowledge of SCI management skills than will the control group - have greater adherence to recommended bladder and bowel management behaviors than the control group - have fewer bladder and bowel complications than the control group - have higher levels of QOL than the control group In other words, this study will investigate the effectiveness of a telehealth version of Health Mechanics to enhance self-management skills related to neurogenic bladder and bowel management in an attempt to prevent associated complications and improve QOL.
The goals of this study are to examine the physiology of Central Nervous System pathways contributing to the control of upper and lower extremity movements after SCI, and to promote the recovery of extremity movements by using non-invasive brain stimulation and motor training.
The purpose of this study is to confirm the security, and detect the effect of the local administration in damaged nervous tissue, of autologous bone marrow stromal cells.
This study is to determine if non-invasive electrical stimulation of the spinal cord can help improve hand and arm function in people with paralysis who suffered a cervical spinal cord injury.