Objectives: To demonstrate reduction in detrusor overactivity using surface electrical stimulation of posterior tibial nerve (PTN) or dorsal penile nerve (DPN) in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). Design: Patients with SCI with symptoms of urinary urgency/leaks, with cystometrogram (CMG) proven detrusor overactivity were recruited in this study. Ten persons with observable F-wave from tibial nerve were included in the PTN group. Five persons who had F-wave absent but preserved bulbocavernosus reflex were included in the DPN group. Stimulation was given at 20 Hz, 10-40 mA for 20 minutes/session/day for 14 consecutive days. Detrusor overactivity was recorded using CMG on days 1 and 15. Settings: Rehabilitation Institute, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore, TN, India. Participants: Patients with SCI. Interventions: Surface stimulation of peripheral nerves for reduction of detrusor overactivity. Outcome measures: Qualitative analysis using voiding diary data and quantitative analysis using CMG data comparing pre-and post-intervention. Results: P value obtained from voiding chart was 0.021 for PTN and 0.062 for DPN. P value obtained from CMG data was not significant in both groups. In one subject, treatment was extended to 4 weeks and further improvement in voiding diary was seen. Conclusions: In this pilot study of 15 patients, voiding chart data showed statistically significant improvement following PTN stimulation and trend of improvement following DPN stimulation. However, the CMG data were not statistically significant in this sample population. Further studies with larger, appropriately powered sample size would be helpful to demonstrate the associations of symptoms with CMG data.

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Wearable inertial sensor-based motion analysis systems are promising alternatives to standard camera-based motion capture systems for the measurement of gait parameters and joint kinematics. These wearable sensors, unlike camera-based gold standard systems, find usefulness in outdoor natural environment along with confined indoor laboratory-based environment due to miniature size and wireless data transmission. This study reports validation of our developed (i-Sens) wearable motion analysis system against standard motion capture system. Gait analysis was performed at self-selected speed on non-disabled volunteers in indoor ( n = 15) and outdoor ( n = 8) environments. Two i-Sens units were placed at the level of knee and hip along with passive markers (for indoor study only) for simultaneous 3D motion capture using a motion capture system. Mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) was computed for spatiotemporal parameters from the i-Sens system versus the motion capture system as a true reference. Mean and standard deviation of kinematic data for a gait cycle were plotted for both systems against normative data. Joint kinematics data were analyzed to compute the root mean squared error (RMSE) and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Kinematic plots indicate a high degree of accuracy of the i-Sens system with the reference system. Excellent positive correlation was observed between the two systems in terms of hip and knee joint angles (Indoor: hip 3.98° ± 1.03°, knee 6.48° ± 1.91°, Outdoor: hip 3.94° ± 0.78°, knee 5.82° ± 0.99°) with low RMSE. Reliability characteristics (defined using standard statistical thresholds of MAPE) of stride length, cadence, walking speed in both outdoor and indoor environment were well within the “Good” category. The i-Sens system has emerged as a potentially cost-effective, valid, accurate, and reliable alternative to expensive, standard motion capture systems for gait analysis. Further clinical trials using the i-Sens system are warranted on participants across different age groups.

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AN ARTICLE by Belušicˇand Zupancˇicˇ(1) described the construction of a finger pulse sensor using a singing greeting card beeper. We felt that this beeper made of piezoelectric material could be easily modified to function as a respiratory belt transducer to monitor respiratory movements. Commercially available respiratory belt transducers, such as Pneumotrace (http:// www.adinstruments.com/products/mlt1132; marketed by AD Instruments), also use such piezoelectric material. After modification, the beeper was attached to the chest using Velcro straps. The strain induced on the piezoelectric material of the beeper by the chest movement produces a corresponding voltage change, which can be recorded by a computer using data-acquisition systems or observed using an oscilloscope. The construction of the respiratory belt transducer is described below. 1 Materials needed. The following materials are needed for the construction of the respiratory belt transducer (Fig.

Objective: Ankle foot orthosis (AFO) commonly prescribed to manage foot-drop following stroke restricts ankle mobility. Commercially available functional electrical stimulation (FES) is an expensive alternative to achieve desired dorsiflexion during swing phase of the gait cycle. An in-house cost-effective innovative solution was designed and developed to address this problem.The aim of the study was to compare spatiotemporal gait characteristics of patients with foot-drop following stroke using commercially available FES against in-house developed versatile single sensor-based FES. Material and Methods: Ten patients with cerebrovascular accident of at least 3 months duration and ambulant with/without AFO were recruited prospectively. They were trained with Device-1 (Commercial Device) and Device-2 (In-house developed, Re-Lift) for 7 h over 3 consecutive days with each device. Outcome measures included timed-up-and-go-test (TUG), six-minute-walk-test (6MWT), ten-meter-walk-test (10MWT), physiological cost index (PCI), instrumented gait analysis derived spatiotemporal parameters, and patient satisfaction feedback questionnaire. We calculated intraclass correlation between devices and median interquartile range. Statistical analysis included Wilcoxon-signed-rank-test and F-test (P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant). Bland Altman and scatter plots were plotted for both devices. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficient for 6MWT (0.96), 10MWT (0.97), TUG test (0.99), and PCI (0.88) reflected high agreement between the two devices. Scatter plot and Bland Altman plots for the outcome parameters showed good correlation between two FES devices. Patient satisfaction scores were equal for both Device-1 and Device-2. There was statistically significant change in swing phase ankle dorsiflexion. Conclusions: The study demonstrated good correlation between commercial FES and Re-Lift suggestive of the utility of low-cost FES device in clinical setting.

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