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Articles 1 - 6 of 6
Full-Text Articles in Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering
Engineering Synthetic Feedback To Promote Recovery Of Self-Feeding Skills In People With Sensory Deficits Due To Stroke, Alexis Krueger
Engineering Synthetic Feedback To Promote Recovery Of Self-Feeding Skills In People With Sensory Deficits Due To Stroke, Alexis Krueger
Master's Theses (2009 -)
Kinesthesia refers to sensations of limb position and movement, and deficits of upper limb kinesthetic feedback are common after stroke, impairing stroke survivors’ ability to perform the fundamental reaching and stabilization behaviors needed for daily functions like self-feeding. I attempt to mitigate the negative impact of post-stroke kinesthesia deficits by evaluating the utility of vibrotactile sensory substitution to restore closed-loop kinesthetic feedback of the upper limb. As a first step, this study evaluated performance in healthy individuals during fundamental reaching, stabilization, and tracking behaviors while using supplemental vibrotactile feedback encoding either limb state information or goal-aware error information. First, I …
Evaluation Of An Actuated Wrist Orthosis For Use In Assistive Upper Extremity Rehabilitation, Devon Holley
Evaluation Of An Actuated Wrist Orthosis For Use In Assistive Upper Extremity Rehabilitation, Devon Holley
Master's Theses (2009 -)
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a neurological condition caused by damage to motor control centers of the brain. This leads to physical and cognitive deficiencies that can reduce an individual’s quality of life. Specifically, motor deficiencies of the upper extremity can make it difficult for an individual to complete everyday tasks, including eating, drinking, getting dressed, or combing their hair. Physical therapy, involving repetitive tasks, has been shown to be effective in training normal motion of the limb by invoking the neuroplasticity of the brain and its ability to adapt in order to facilitate motor learning. Creating a device for use …
Structural-Functional Brain Connectivity Underlying Integrative Sensorimotor Function After Stroke, Benjamin Thomas Kalinosky
Structural-Functional Brain Connectivity Underlying Integrative Sensorimotor Function After Stroke, Benjamin Thomas Kalinosky
Dissertations (1934 -)
In this dissertation research project, we demonstrated the relationship between the structural and functional connections across the brain in stroke survivors. We used this information to predict arm function in stroke survivors, suggesting that the tools developed through this research will be useful for prescribing individualized rehabilitation strategies in people after stroke. Current clinical methods for rehabilitating sensorimotor function after stroke are not based on the locus of injury in the brain. Instead, therapies are generalized, treating symptoms such as weakness and spasticity. This results in outcomes that are highly variable, with severity of impairment immediately following stroke as the …
Dynamic Balance Control During Treadmill Walking In Chronic Stroke Survivors, Eric Richard Walker
Dynamic Balance Control During Treadmill Walking In Chronic Stroke Survivors, Eric Richard Walker
Dissertations (1934 -)
Maintaining dynamic balance is an important component of walking function that is likely impaired in chronic stroke survivors, evidenced by an increased prevalence of falls. Dynamic balance control requires maintaining the center of mass (COM) within the base of support during movement. During walking, dynamic balance control is achieved largely by modifying foot placement to adjust the base of support. However, chronic stroke survivors have difficulty with both precision control of foot placement, as well as reduced control of COM movement. The objective of this dissertation was to characterize dynamic balance control strategies during walking in chronic stroke survivors. Additionally, …
The Dominant Role Of The Hip In Multijoint Reflex Responses In Human Spinal Cord Injury, Tanya Onushko
The Dominant Role Of The Hip In Multijoint Reflex Responses In Human Spinal Cord Injury, Tanya Onushko
Dissertations (1934 -)
Following a spinal cord injury (SCI), people often experience exaggerated reflexes, such that mild provocations can cause prolonged and uncontrolled muscle activity throughout the entire leg. These reflexes can be problematic and are known to interfere with functional tasks, such as transferring to and from a wheelchair, and they may interfere with locomotor function by prolonging muscle activity and/or inappropriately activating muscles during attempts to walk. While these multijoint reflexes have been shown to originate from several afferent cues, hip afferent input is a particularly potent sensory signal that readily triggers multijoint reflexes. The overall objective of this dissertation was …
Design And Validation Of An Mr Conditional Upper Extremity Evaluation System To Study Brain Activation Patterns After Stroke, Rubing Xu
Master's Theses (2009 -)
Stroke is the third leading cause of death and second most frequent cause of disability in the United States. Stroke rehabilitation methods have been developed to induce the cortical reorganization and motor-relearning that leads to stroke recovery. In this thesis, we designed and developed an MR conditional upper extremity reach and grasp movement evaluation system for the stroke survivors to study their kinematic performances in reach and grasp movement and the relationship between kinematic metrics and the recovery level measured by clinical assessment methods. We also applied the system into the functional MRI experiments to identify the ability to study …