Safety and efficacy of medically performed tongue piercing in people with tetraplegia for use with tongue-operated assistive technology.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries need effective ways to perform activities. OBJECTIVES: To develop and test a medically supervised tongue-piercing protocol and the wearing of a magnet-containing tongue barbell for use with the Tongue Drive System (TDS) in persons with tetraplegia. METHODS: Volunteers with tetraplegia underwent initial screening sessions using a magnet glued on the tongue to activate and use the TDS. This was followed by tongue piercing, insertion of a standard barbell, a 4-week healing period, and an exchange of the standard barbell for a magnet-containing barbell. This was then used twice weekly for 6 to 8 weeks to perform computer tasks, drive a powered wheelchair, accomplish in-chair weight shifts, and dial a phone. Symptoms of intraoral dysfunction, change in tongue size following piercing, and subjective assessment of receiving and wearing a magnet-containing tongue barbell and its usability with the TDS were evaluated. RESULTS: Twenty-one volunteers underwent initial trial sessions. Thirteen had their tongues pierced. One individual's barbell dislodged during healing resulting in tongue-tract closure. Twelve had the barbell exchanged for a magnet-containing barbell. One subject withdrew for unrelated issues. Eleven completed the TDS testing sessions and were able to complete the assigned tasks. No serious adverse events occurred related to wearing or using a tongue barbell to operate the TDS. CONCLUSIONS: Using careful selection criteria and a medically supervised piercing protocol, no excess risk was associated with tongue piercing and wearing a tongue barbell in people with tetraplegia. Participants were able to operate the TDS.

Effects of gender on inpatient rehabilitation outcomes in the elderly with incomplete paraplegia from nontraumatic spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVE: To examine gender differences in rehabilitation outcomes for patients with nontraumatic spinal cord injury. RESEARCH DESIGN: Secondary analysis was conducted on Medicare beneficiary data from 65 to 74 year olds with incomplete paraplegia discharged from inpatient rehabilitation facilities in 2002 through 2005. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Length of stay, Functional Independence Measure instrument motor item and subscale scores on discharge, and discharge destination. RESULTS: Among patients with degenerative spinal disease, men had significantly longer rehabilitation stays than women (P < 0.001). Men with degenerative spinal disease had significantly lower discharge Functional Independence Measure scores than women, indicating more dependence in self-care (P < 0.001) and mobility (P < 0.001). Among patients with degenerative spinal disease, men were less likely to walk (odds ratio = 0.58; 95% CI = 0.38-0.87) and less likely to be independent with bladder management (odds ratio = 0.44; 95% CI = 0.31-0.62). Among patients with vascular ischemia, men were more independent (B = 2.59; 99% CI = 0.42-4.76) in mobility than women. There were no gender differences in the malignant spinal tumors group. There were no gender differences in being discharged to a community-based residence. CONCLUSIONS: Gender distributions varied by etiology. Gender differences were found in demographics, length of stay, and functional outcomes but not discharge destination. Men were more dependent than women at discharge in the etiology group with the least overall disability (degenerative spinal disease) and more independent in mobility than women at discharge in the etiology group with the most overall disability (vascular ischemia).

Promote pressure ulcer healing in individuals with spinal cord injury using an individualized cyclic pressure-relief protocol.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether an individualized cyclic pressure-relief protocol accelerates wound healing in wheelchair users with established pressure ulcers (PrUs). DESIGN: Randomized controlled study. SETTING: Spinal cord injury clinics. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-four subjects, aged 18-79 years, with a Stage II or Stage III PrU, were randomly assigned to the control (n = 22) or treatment (n = 22) groups. INTERVENTIONS: Subjects in the treatment group used wheelchairs equipped with an individually adjusted automated seat that provided cyclic pressure relief, and those in the control group used a standard wheelchair. All subjects sat in wheelchairs for a minimum of 4 hours per day for 30 days during their PrU treatment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Wound characteristics were assessed using the Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing (PUSH) tool and wound dimensions recorded with digital photographs twice a week. Median healing time for a 30% healing relative to initial measurements, the percentage reduction in wound area, and the percentage improvement in PUSH score achieved at the end of the trial were compared between groups. RESULTS: At the end of 30 days, both groups demonstrated a general trend of healing. However, the treatment group was found to take significantly less time to achieve 30% healing for the wound measurement compared with the control group. The percentage improvement of the wound area and PUSH scores were greater in using cyclic seating (45.0 +/- 21.0, P < .003; 29.9 +/- 24. 6, P < .003) compared with standard seating (10.2 +/- 34.9, 5.8 +/- 9.2). CONCLUSIONS: The authors' findings show that cyclically relieving pressure in the area of a wound for seated individuals can greatly aid wound healing. The current study provides evidence that the individualized cyclic pressure-relief protocol helps promote pressure wound healing in a clinical setting. The authors concluded that the individualized cyclic pressure relief may have substantial benefits in accelerating the healing process in wheelchair users with existing PrUs, while maintaining the mobility of individuals with SCI during the PrU treatment.

Assessment of the Tongue-Drive System Using a Computer, a Smartphone, and a Powered-Wheelchair by People With Tetraplegia.

Tongue-Drive System (TDS) is a wireless and wearable assistive technology that enables people with severe disabilities to control their computers, wheelchairs, and smartphones using voluntary tongue motion. To evaluate the efficacy of the TDS, several experiments were conducted, in which the performance of nine able-bodied (AB) participants using a mouse, a keypad, and the TDS, as well as a cohort of 11 participants with tetraplegia (TP) using the TDS, were observed and compared. Experiments included the Fitts' law tapping, wheelchair driving, phone-dialing, and weight-shifting tasks over five to six consecutive sessions. All participants received a tongue piercing, wore a magnetic tongue stud, and completed the trials as evaluable participants. Although AB participants were already familiar with the keypad, throughputs of their tapping tasks using the keypad were only 1.4 times better than those using the TDS. The completion times of wheelchair driving task using the TDS for AB and TP participants were between 157 s and 180 s with three different control strategies. Participants with TP completed phone-dialing and weight-shifting tasks in 81.9 s and 71.5 s, respectively, using tongue motions. Results showed statistically significant improvement or trending to improvement in performance status over the sessions. Most of the learning occurred between the first and second sessions, but trends did suggest that more practice would lead to increased improvement in performance using the TDS.

Qualitative assessment of tongue drive system by people with high-level spinal cord injury.

The Tongue Drive System (TDS) is a minimally invasive, wireless, and wearable assistive technology (AT) that enables people with severe disabilities to control their environments using tongue motion. TDS translates specific tongue gestures into commands by sensing the magnetic field created by a small magnetic tracer applied to the user's tongue. We have previously quantitatively evaluated the TDS for accessing computers and powered wheelchairs, demonstrating its usability. In this study, we focused on its qualitative evaluation by people with high-level spinal cord injury who each received a magnetic tongue piercing and used the TDS for 6 wk. We used two questionnaires, an after-scenario and a poststudy, designed to evaluate the tongue-piercing experience and the TDS usability compared with that of the sip-and-puff and the users' current ATs. After study completion, 73% of the participants were positive about keeping the magnetic tongue-barbell in order to use the TDS. All were satisfied with the TDS performance and most said that they were able to do more things using TDS than their current ATs (4.22/5).

The tongue enables computer and wheelchair control for people with spinal cord injury.

The Tongue Drive System (TDS) is a wireless and wearable assistive technology, designed to allow individuals with severe motor impairments such as tetraplegia to access their environment using voluntary tongue motion. Previous TDS trials used a magnetic tracer temporarily attached to the top surface of the tongue with tissue adhesive. We investigated TDS efficacy for controlling a computer and driving a powered wheelchair in two groups of able-bodied subjects and a group of volunteers with spinal cord injury (SCI) at C6 or above. All participants received a magnetic tongue barbell and used the TDS for five to six consecutive sessions. The performance of the group was compared for TDS versus keypad and TDS versus a sip-and-puff device (SnP) using accepted measures of speed and accuracy. All performance measures improved over the course of the trial. The gap between keypad and TDS performance narrowed for able-bodied subjects. Despite participants with SCI already having familiarity with the SnP, their performance measures were up to three times better with the TDS than with the SnP and continued to improve. TDS flexibility and the inherent characteristics of the human tongue enabled individuals with high-level motor impairments to access computers and drive wheelchairs at speeds that were faster than traditional assistive technologies but with comparable accuracy.

Effects of etiology on inpatient rehabilitation outcomes in 65- to 74-year-old patients with incomplete paraplegia from a nontraumatic spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVE: To examine differences in rehabilitation outcomes for older patients with a nontraumatic spinal cord injury (NT-SCI) for 5 etiologic diagnoses: degenerative spinal disease (DSD), malignant spinal tumor, benign spinal tumor, vascular ischemia, and spinal abscess. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study that used Medicare claims and assessment data. SETTING: A total of 479 inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and units. PATIENTS: A total of 1780 Medicare beneficiaries (65-74 years old) with incomplete paraplegia attributable to NT-SCI who were discharged from inpatient rehabilitation facilities from 2002 through 2005. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Length of stay, discharge Functional Independence Measure (FIM) instrument motor item and subscale scores, and discharge destination. RESULTS: Demographic characteristics varied by etiology group. Mean +/- SD rehabilitation stays ranged from 13.3 +/- 7.7 days for DSD to 26.4 +/- 13.4 days for vascular ischemia. Adjusted data showed stays differed (P < .001) across etiology groups. Adjusted discharge mean self-care and mobility subscores revealed that patients with DSD and benign tumor were more independent (P < .001) than patients with a malignant tumor or spinal abscess. Patients with vascular ischemia were more dependent (P < .01) in mobility than the DSD and benign tumor groups. Etiologic differences (P < .01) in independence in discharge FIM modifiers for walking (FIM > or = 4), bladder (FIM > or = 6) and bowel management (FIM > or = 6) and bowel accidents/continence (FIM > or = 6), but not bladder accidents (FIM > or = 6), were present. The percent of patients discharged to a community residence ranged from 59.3% to 92.6%. Adjusted data showed that significantly larger percentages (P < .01) of patients in the DSD and malignant tumor groups than in the spinal abscess group were discharged to a community residence (versus nursing home). CONCLUSION: There are etiologic differences in demographics, rehabilitation length of stay, functional outcomes, and discharge destination in elderly patients with NT-SCI.

Periodically relieving ischial sitting load to decrease the risk of pressure ulcers.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relieving effect on interface pressure of an alternate sitting protocol involving a sitting posture that reduces ischial support. DESIGN: Repeated measures in 2 protocols on 3 groups of subjects. SETTING: Laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty able-bodied persons, 20 persons with paraplegia, and 20 persons with tetraplegia. INTERVENTIONS: Two 1-hour protocols were used: alternate and normal plus pushup. In the alternate protocol, sitting posture was alternated every 10 minutes between normal (sitting upright with ischial support) and with partially removed ischial support (WO-BPS) postures; in the normal plus pushup protocol, sitting was in normal posture with pushups (lifting the subject off the seat) performed every 20 minutes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Interface pressure on seat and backrest. RESULTS: In WO-BPS posture, the concentrated interface pressure observed around the ischia in normal posture was significantly repositioned to the thighs. By cyclically repositioning the interface pressure, the alternate protocol was superior to the normal plus pushup protocol in terms of a significantly lower average interface pressure over the buttocks. CONCLUSIONS: A sitting protocol periodically reducing the ischial support helps lower the sitting load on the buttocks, especially the area close to ischial tuberosities.