NCT07206797

Ultrasound for Quantifying Muscle Activation Elicited by Spinal Cord Stimulation and Functional Electrical Stimulation

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 30 (estimated)
• Sponsor: North Carolina State University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 60 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Transcutaneous (non-invasive) spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) has been shown to facilitate volitional motor activity in patients with spinal cord injury. tSCS is known to activate the same neural structures as invasive SCS, meaning it may have the potential for functional restoration without an expensive surgical implant. Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is also used in therapy for patients with spinal cord injury to locally activate paralyzed or weakened muscles. There is evidence that combining FES and tSCS may elicit greater muscle activation than either modality alone. The objective of this study is to quantify the torque at the ankle joint generated by tSCS, by FES, and by tSCS + FES. Additionally, ultrasound images will be collected during stimulation to provide a metric of muscle activity. The correlation between ultrasound and torque will be assessed to determine if ultrasound is a useful modality for quantifying tSCS-elicited muscle activity.

Conditions

• Neuromodulatory Effects of TSCS and FES in Lower Limbs

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Functional Electrical Stimulation	Functional electrical stimulation will be applied to the ankle muscles. The resulting torque will be collected, and ultrasound data will be obtained during stimulation.
DEVICE	Transcutaneous (Non-Invasive) Spinal Cord Stimulation	Non-invasive spinal cord stimulation will be applied. The resulting torque data will be collected, and ultrasound data will be obtained during stimulation.
DEVICE	Ultrasound	Ultrasound data will be collected from the shin muscles during FES and tSCS.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-06-01
• Primary completion: 2026-06-01
• Completion: 2026-06-01
• First posted: 2025-10-03
• Last updated: 2025-10-14

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States