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Epidemiological Assessment Studies
Published in Riadh W. Y. Habash, Electromagnetic Fields and Radiation, 2018
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive and fatal neurological disease. It is an advancing degeneration of motor nerve cells in the brain (upper motor neurons) and spinal cord (lower motor neurons). When the motor neurons can no longer send impulses to the muscle, the muscle begins to waste away (atrophy) causing increased muscle weakness leading to paralysis. ALS does not damage a person’s intellectual reasoning, vision, hearing, sense of taste and smell, and sexual, bowel, and bladder functions.
Toward improving functional recovery in spinal cord injury using robotics: a pilot study focusing on ankle rehabilitation
Published in Expert Review of Medical Devices, 2022
Rocco Salvatore Calabrò, Luana Billeri, Fabrizio Ciappina, Tina Balletta, Bruno Porcari, Antonino Cannavò, Loris Pignolo, Alfredo Manuli, Antonino Naro
We screened all persons with iSCI attending the Neurorobotic Rehabilitation Unit of our Institute between June 2018 and August 2019 in inpatient regimen (n = 31). The inclusion criteria were traumatic or non-traumatic, non–progressive, iSCI at, or rostral to, the Tl0 (vertebral) level; subacute (from 3 to 12 months post-SCI), and chronic phase (more than 12 months post-SCI) [36,37]; no severe ankle instability (evaluated clinically—with gait and hindfoot assessment, drawer test, lateral stress test, and chronic pain localization and radiologically whether necessary—weight-bearing ankle x-rays); an at least a palpable or visible contraction of ankle plantar and dorsal flexor muscle groups (>grade 1 according to the protocol of the ASIA); and under the age of 65 years. Pressure ulcers, severe limitation of range of motion of the hips and knee joints, severe cognitive impairment, lower motor neuron lesion, previous robot-aided gait training before the inclusion in the present study, or severe pulmonary or heart disease were considered as exclusion criteria.
Inertial sensing of step kinematics in ambulatory patients with ALS and related motor neuron diseases
Published in Journal of Medical Engineering & Technology, 2021
Andrew Geronimo, Anne E. Martin, Zachary Simmons
This was a single-session, prospective study using body-worn inertial sensors to measure gait of adult patients attending a tertiary care ALS clinic. This study included patients with a diagnosis of definite, probable, probable laboratory-supported possible ALS [24], primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) or progressive muscular atrophy (PMA). PLS patients experience isolated upper motor neuron dysfunction, leading to spasticity and incoordination, while PMA patients have isolated lower motor neuron dysfunction, producing muscle weakness. Those with ALS exhibit signs of both upper and lower motor neuron dysfunction. Clinical parameters of age, gender, height, walking sub-score of the ALSFRS-R (FRSw) and mobility assistance were collected for each subject. FRSw was either 2 (walks with assistance), 3 (early ambulation difficulties) or 4 (normal walking). Mobility assistance was either “no assistance”, “cane” or “rolling walker” based on the type of aid using during the recording. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Penn State Health Hershey Medical Centre and all subjects provided written informed consent.
TeleBCI: remote user training, monitoring, and communication with an evoked-potential brain-computer interface
Published in Brain-Computer Interfaces, 2020
Andrew Geronimo, Zachary Simmons
Three participant groups were enrolled in this study: AAC-BCI users, their BCI facilitators (together referred to as ‘participant teams’), and clinician nurses. Clinician nurses were members of a multidisciplinary ALS care team. Potential patient participants were recruited from the clinical population and through use of a regional mailer. Patients were required to have a diagnosis of definite, probable, probable laboratory-supported, or possible ALS by revised El Escorial research criteria [24], primary lateral sclerosis (PLS, upper motor neuron involvement only), or progressive muscular atrophy (PMA, lower motor neuron involvement only). Eligible subjects were also required to have limitations in their capacity for useful speech, upper extremity function, or both, have a facilitator able to perform the study procedures, and have access to a reliable in-home internet connection. Consent procedures were performed in the home of the participant, following the research protocol approved by our Institutional Review Board (IRB).