Staff: Jonathan Norton, Nick Donaldson, (UCL) Brian Day, (ION) Duncan Wood (SDH)

NEW  A poster presented at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies Meeting in Paris in July 2002 on the sit-to-stand procedure is available here.

In this project we are investigating the functional significance of endogenous electrical activity in the intact, but disconnected, residual spinal cord of paraplegics. We are doing this by recording joint moments, muscle activity and posture in 3D space whilst recumbent, but extended, and standing. We are studying patients with either implanted or surface FES systems. We are particularly interested in the spinally generated EMG oscillations we have observed in previous patients, and their relationship to tremor.

We are also working on a biomechanical model of paraplegic FES assisted standing.

In this project we have also developed a 3D imaging method for the determination of mass properties of the legs of individuals. This has allowed the more accurate calculation of joint moments, particularly for disabled patients.