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Breathing Low Oxygen to Enhance Spinal Stimulation Training and Functional Recovery in Persons with Chronic Spinal Cord Injury
Walking recovery is a key goal after spinal cord injury (SCI). While some patients experience spontaneous recovery due to preserved neural circuits, many struggle to achieve independent ambulation, and those who do often face persistent deficits. There is growing consensus that a single approach is insufficient to overcome these challenges, prompting the need for combined interventions.
Age Range
18-70
Clinical Trial
Multimodal Haptic Feedback for Plantar Sensory Substitution
Plantar sensation is crucial for gait, balance, and posture, and its loss contributes to movement disorders in conditions like multiple sclerosis, diabetes, stroke, and spinal cord injury. Current diagnostic methods use pressure sensor arrays to assess gait deficiencies, with wireless insole technology extending data collection beyond clinical settings. Building on these advances, we are investigating sensory substitution as a potential solution to restore lost plantar sensation and improve outcomes for affected individuals.
Age Range
18-85
Clinical Trial
Identification of sensory-motor control in reaching
Sensory inputs such as vision, proprioception, and touch play a crucial role in post-stroke recovery. Our research delves into how these sensory contributions can be assessed to develop effective, personalized therapy strategies. Enhancing and tailoring sensory inputs to an individual’s needs allows us to explore how learning outcomes can be improved and errors reduced. Through synthetic simulations that combine muscular, visual, and proprioceptive inputs, we aim to understand better the complex processes involved in motor learning.
Research Project
Altering Post-Stroke Motor Recovery
True behavioral restitution, a return to normal motor patterns with the affected limb post-stroke, requires the recruitment and restoration of the residual ipsilesional hemisphere/corticospinal tract (CST). Following stroke, the spontaneous recovery mechanism selectively and continuously uses a more optimized neural network for motor execution, depending on the degree of CST damage.
Research Project
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab Psychologist Featured in PBS Next Avenue Story about Chronic Pain
Next Avenue, a digital PBS publication, recently featured Shirley Ryan AbilityLab clinical psychologist Claire Pedersen, PsyD, in a story about the connection between chronic pain and anger — and how anger can have an impact on the perception, intensity and frequency of pain.
News
Forearm ExoNET
Can you build a soft, exo-robot as a wearable orthosis to provide assistance during both rehabilitation and activities of daily living? Can this same device also be used as a therapeutic device by tuning to anti-assistance mode, providing more meaningful therapy to the user?
Research Project
Eglove
Body Computer Interface (BCI) is the idea that one can control a robot simply by thinking about it. In this study, we are laying the groundwork for further BCI and robotic development for individuals to control a hand opening device called the Electro encephalographic mediated glove (or Eglove) using an EEG cap connected to a motorized glove.
Research Project
Developing probability distribution models from upper extremity free exploration trials to evaluate motor deficits in stroke patients
Stroke survivors vary greatly in their motor deficits and rehabilitative needs. Here, we gather unstructured upper limb movement data and seek to understand if there are patterns in their kinetics that reflect the underlying neuromuscular alterations. In doing so, we can improve our abilities to evaluate patients and design personalized rehab therapy.
Research Project
Visual Feedback of Kinematic Chain in a Redundant Novel Task
This study utilizes a wearable data glove system that translates hand movements into signals that control a cursor on a screen. We examined how participants learn a redundant novel task, which can be completed through various solutions.
Research Project
Multimodal Haptic Feedback for Plantar Sensory Substitution
The purpose of this study is to test the use of a system that can read the pressure pattern on the foot and “map” that pattern to another part of the body (i.e., legs, arms, or back).
Research Project
A Guide to Rock Climbing After a Long Break
Rock climbing is a rigorous sport that is very demanding on the whole body. From the fingertips to the toes, large forces are constantly being placed on small structures, which can create a potential for injury.
Blog
Locomotor Function Following Transcutaneous Electrical Spinal Cord Stimulation in Individuals with Hemiplegic Stroke
Despite advances in stroke rehabilitation, more than two-thirds of the 7 million stroke survivors in the U.S. still struggle to walk independently in their communities. Most current therapies focus on stimulating the brain areas that control leg movement, yet many stroke survivors continue to face issues like poor coordination, spasticity, and muscle weakness. We propose a different approach—using electrical stimulation of the spinal cord to improve walking after stroke.
Research Project