A novel stimulation paradigm to reduce the habituation of the nociceptive withdrawal reflex

Project Details

Description

The aim of this project is to investigate how to improve the technology used for gait rehabilitation after stroke. Functional electrical therapy based on the Nociceptive Withdrawal Reflex (NWR) has been shown to improve gait rehabilitation in severely impaired hemiparetic patients by increasing post treatment walking velocity and gait symmetry. With this approach, gait rehabilitation is achieved by combining intensive gait training with electrical stimulation of the sole of the foot, which elicits the NWR. This reflex response, elicited at the late stance phase during walking, activates relevant leg muscles and can aid initiating/supporting the swing phase in stroke patients. However, since the stimulation is delivered at every step during gait training, the reflex response can habituate resulting in a gradually reduced support during gait training. This project investigates different electrical stimulation paradigm with the goal of identifying the paradigms with the lower habituation. Electrophysiological ad kinematic measurements are used to quantify the response and its effect on gait.
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date01/09/201430/05/2018

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