Victor Santamaria1, Tatiana Luna1, Moiz Khan2, Sunil Agrawal1,3. 1. 1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 USA. 2. 2Department of Radiology at BWH, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115 USA. 3. 3Department of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA.
Abstract
Study design: Cross-sectional study. Objectives: To measure and expand the sitting workspace of participants with spinal cord injury (SCI) with the Trunk-Support-Trainer (TruST). Setting: Columbia University. Methods: TruST is a motorized-cable belt placed around the torso. Participants performed maximal trunk excursions along eight directions, radiating in a star-shape, to define their seated postural limits and workspace area (cm2). TruST was configured to apply "assist-as-needed" forces when the trunk moved beyond these postural limits. Kinematics were collected to examine trunk control. The clinical features of the sample (n = 5) were documented by neurological injury, dynamometry, the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale, and Spinal Cord Independence Measure-III. Results: Statistical significance was examined with paired t-tests. TruST successfully recreated the postural limits of participants and expanded their active sitting workspace (Mean: 123.3 ± SE: 42.8 cm2, p < 0.05). Furthermore, participants improved their trunk excursions to posterior (Mean: 5.1 ± SE: 0.8 cm, p < 0.01), right (Mean: 3.1 ± SE: 1.1 cm, p < 0.05), and left (Mean: 5.0 ± SE: 1.7 cm, p = 0.05) directions with TruST-force field. Conclusions: TruST can accurately define and expand the active seated workspace of people with SCI during volitional trunk movements. The capacity of TruST to deliver continuous force-feedback at the user's postural limits opens new frontiers to implement motor learning-based paradigms to retrain functional sitting in people with SCI.
Study design: Cross-sectional study. Objectives: To measure and expand the sitting workspace of participants with spinal cord injury (SCI) with the Trunk-Support-Trainer (TruST). Setting: Columbia University. Methods: TruST is a motorized-cable belt placed around the torso. Participants performed maximal trunk excursions along eight directions, radiating in a star-shape, to define their seated postural limits and workspace area (cm2). TruST was configured to apply "assist-as-needed" forces when the trunk moved beyond these postural limits. Kinematics were collected to examine trunk control. The clinical features of the sample (n = 5) were documented by neurological injury, dynamometry, the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale, and Spinal Cord Independence Measure-III. Results: Statistical significance was examined with paired t-tests. TruST successfully recreated the postural limits of participants and expanded their active sitting workspace (Mean: 123.3 ± SE: 42.8 cm2, p < 0.05). Furthermore, participants improved their trunk excursions to posterior (Mean: 5.1 ± SE: 0.8 cm, p < 0.01), right (Mean: 3.1 ± SE: 1.1 cm, p < 0.05), and left (Mean: 5.0 ± SE: 1.7 cm, p = 0.05) directions with TruST-force field. Conclusions: TruST can accurately define and expand the active seated workspace of people with SCI during volitional trunk movements. The capacity of TruST to deliver continuous force-feedback at the user's postural limits opens new frontiers to implement motor learning-based paradigms to retrain functional sitting in people with SCI.
Authors: A Catz; M Itzkovich; L Tesio; F Biering-Sorensen; C Weeks; M T Laramee; B C Craven; M Tonack; S L Hitzig; E Glaser; G Zeilig; S Aito; G Scivoletto; M Mecci; R J Chadwick; W S El Masry; A Osman; C A Glass; P Silva; B M Soni; B P Gardner; G Savic; E M Bergström; V Bluvshtein; J Ronen Journal: Spinal Cord Date: 2006-08-15 Impact factor: 2.772
Authors: Victor Santamaria; Moiz Khan; Tatiana Luna; Jiyeon Kang; Joseph Dutkowsky; Andrew M Gordon; Sunil K Agrawal Journal: IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng Date: 2021-01-28 Impact factor: 4.528