Development of neurorehabilitation technique using noninvasive spinal cord stimulation

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16H07456
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Rehabilitation science/Welfare engineering
• Research Institution: Tokyo International University (2017); National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities (2016)
• Principal Investigator: Masugi Yohei 東京国際大学, 人間社会学部, 講師 (60778942)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-08-26 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 脊髄刺激 / 脊髄反射 / ヒト / リハビリテーション

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Development of an effective rehabilitation method based on scientific evidence is an important subject while the clinical application of regenerative medicine to the spinal cord injured person has become realistic. A recent study showed that epidural spinal cord stimulation restored lower limb motor function of a person with complete spinal cord injury. However, this method requires the implant of epidural electrodes in their body, and is not used much in rehabilitation.
In this study, a transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation method, which is a noninvasive method of stimulating the spinal cord, was established. Furthermore, it was revealed that spinal cord circuits which was activated by this method are strongly affected by somatosensory input.

Free Research Field

リハビリテーション