NCT04309448

Augmenting Reactive Stepping With FES After SCI

Augmenting Reactive Stepping With Functional Electrical Stimulation for Individuals Living With Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 2 (actual)
• Sponsor: University Health Network, Toronto · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Up to 25 individuals living with chronic incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI) who can stand but have limited ability to elicit a step without physical assistance or upper limb (U/L) support will be recruited for this study. The first objective of the study will aim to investigate the orthotic effect (i.e., immediate effect) of FES on the reactive stepping response. The second objective is to investigate the therapeutic effect of a novel balance intervention, perturbation-based balance training (PBT) combined with FES (i.e., PBT+FES) on reactive stepping ability, measures of postural sway during quiet standing (i.e., biomechanical measures), and scores on clinical measures of balance and walking.

Conditions

• Spinal Cord Injuries

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Perturbation-based balance training with functional electrical stimulation	The PBT program will consist of repetitive practice of reactive stepping for one hour. The participants will be equipped with the Odstock 2-Channel stimulator on one or both sides depending on their deficits. One channel of stimulation may be applied to the common fibular nerve to elicit a flexor withdraw reflex and elicit a step. The second channel of stimulation may be applied to the quadriceps muscles to assist with the supporting phase of the reactive step, as required. Participants will experience about 60 perturbations per session during balance exercises. To create a perturbation, the researcher will apply unexpected pushes or pulls to a safety harness around the participant's trunk. Throughout the hour-long session, participants will complete challenging balance tasks, customized to their ability level, during standing and walking. The training will be supervised by a licensed physiotherapist and administered by a licensed physiotherapist or registered kinesiologist.

Timeline

• Start date: 2019-09-01
• Primary completion: 2020-03-17
• Completion: 2020-06-30
• First posted: 2020-03-16
• Last updated: 2021-04-01

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada