Oral Presentation

Spinal Cord Injury

Young Investigators Symposium: Fellows from the Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training Program

NIDILRR_Transcutaneous Spinal Stimulation Facilitates Upper Extremity Functional Recovery in People with Tetraplegia

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

2:48 PM – 3:00 PM EST

Presenting Author(s)

Fan Zhang, PhD

Associate Research Scientist
Tim & Caroline Reynolds Center for Spinal Stimulation, Kessler Foundation
West Orange, New Jersey

Presentation Slides Presentation + Audio

Non-presenting Author(s)

KM

Kamyar Momeni, PhD

Research Scientist
Kessler Foundation
WEST Orange, New Jersey
Arvind Ramanujam, MS

Senior Engineer
Kessler Foundation
West Orange, New Jersey
MR

Manikandan Ravi, n/a

Senior Engineer
Kessler Foundation
west orange, New Jersey
JC

Janelle Carnahan, Pt, DPT, ATP

Physical Therapist
Kessler Foundation
West Orange, New Jersey
Steven Kirshblum, MD

Director of the Spinal Cord Injury Program
Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
West Orange, New Jersey
Gail F. Forrest, PhD

Director Center Spinal Stimulation
Associate Professor
West Orange, New Jersey

Recovery of upper extremity (UE) and hand function is considered the highest priority for individuals with tetraplegia, because these functions closely integrate with their activities of daily living. Therefore, there is a pressing need to restore as much function as possible to the large and increasing population of individuals with tetraplegia. The goal of this study is to investigate the efficacy of the novel and non-invasive spinal cord transcutaneous stimulation (scTS) in neuro-modulating the cervical spinal network to facilitate hand and UE function recovery for individuals with tetraplegia. Three males with chronic tetraplegia (S01: C5 AIS-A; S02: C3 AIS-D; S03: C7 AIS-B) were trained and tested in the study. Clinical outcome measures, as well as neurophysiological tests, were evaluated at baseline, post-intervention, and during three months of follow-up visits. the functional improvement and neurological recovery of hand and upper extremity in these participants. The present data demonstrated that scTS combined with task-specific hand training led to immediate and long-lasting improvements in the functional and neurological recovery of UE and hand. Future research will focus on randomized clinical trials to evaluate the responsiveness of scTS on a larger population of individuals with tetraplegia and understanding the underlying mechanisms.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion, the participant will be able to recognize the importance/priority of arm and hand functional recovery after cervical spinal cord injury (SCI).
Upon completion, participant will be able to show the short-term effects of transcutaneous spinal stimulation on neurological recovery.
Upon completion, the participant will be able to determine whether cervical scTS combined with hand training can lead to short-term and long-term functional and neurological recovery of upper extremity and hand for individuals with tetraplegia.