ABSTRACT
During the last decade, intraspinal microstimulation (ISMS) has been proposed as a potential technique for restoring motor function in paralyzed limbs. A major challenge to restoration of a desired functional limb movement through the use of ISMS is the development of a robust control strategy for determining the stimulation patterns. Accurate and stable control of limbs by functional intraspinal microstimulation is a very difficult task because neuromusculoskeletal systems have significant nonlinearity, time variability, large latency and time constant, and muscle fatigue. Furthermore, the controller must be able to compensate the effect of the dynamic interaction between motor neuron pools and electrode sites during ISMS. In this paper, we present a robust strategy for multi-joint control through ISMS in which the system parameters are adapted online and the controller requires no offline training phase. The method is based on the combination of sliding mode control with fuzzy logic and neural control. Extensive experiments on six rats are provided to demonstrate the robustness, stability, and tracking accuracy of the proposed method. Despite the complexity of the spinal neuronal networks, our results show that the proposed strategy could provide accurate tracking control with fast convergence and could generate control signals to compensate for the effects of muscle fatigue.
Subject(s)
Biofeedback, Psychology/physiology , Electric Stimulation/methods , Feedback, Sensory/physiology , Joints/physiology , Movement/physiology , Muscle Contraction/physiology , Muscle, Skeletal/physiology , Adaptation, Physiological/physiology , Algorithms , Animals , Biofeedback, Psychology/instrumentation , Biofeedback, Psychology/methods , Female , Fuzzy Logic , Hindlimb/physiology , Muscle, Skeletal/innervation , Rats , Rats, WistarABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: To study the effects of an aqueous extract of date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L. Arecaceae) diet on diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN) in streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced diabetic rats. METHODS: The effects of a date fruit extract (DFE) diet on diabetic neuropathy in STZ-induced diabetic rats were evaluated and compared with a nondiabetic control group, diabetic control group (sham), and vehicle group with respect to the following parameters: open field behavioral test, motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV), and morphological observations. RESULTS: In the model of STZ-induced of diabetic neuropathy, chronic treatment for 6 weeks with DFE counteracted the impairment of the explorative activity of the rats in an open field behavioral test and of the conduction velocity of the sciatic nerve (MNCV). In addition, pretreatment with DFE significantly reversed each nerve diameter reduction in diabetic rats. CONCLUSION: DFE treatment shows efficacy for preventing diabetic deterioration and for improving pathological parameters of diabetic neuropathy in rats, as compared with control groups.
Subject(s)
Chronology as Topic , Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/complications , Diabetic Neuropathies/drug therapy , Fruit , Motor Neurons/drug effects , Neuroprotective Agents/administration & dosage , Plant Extracts/administration & dosage , Animals , Behavior, Animal/drug effects , Diabetic Neuropathies/physiopathology , Male , Motor Neurons/pathology , Motor Neurons/physiology , Neural Conduction/drug effects , Neuroprotective Agents/adverse effects , Plant Extracts/adverse effects , Rats , Rats, Wistar , Sciatic Nerve/drug effects , Sciatic Nerve/pathology , Sciatic Nerve/physiopathologyABSTRACT
Car accidents and gun-shot injuries are the most common causes of spinal cord injury. Five percent of those patients who have a complete spinal cord injury will experience improvement, to some extent. The lack of specific data in the literature regarding the outcome of earthquake related spinal cord injury justified us to design this study where we evaluated the neurological outcome and related factors of SCI in the Bam earthquake. We retrospectively evaluated the neurological outcome of patients with spinal cord injury who survived the Bam earthquake. In this study all patients with spinal cord injury that resulted from the Bam earthquake who registered in the Welfare Organization of Kerman were studied. The neurological conditions of patients eighteen months after the earthquake were compared with their neurological conditions at the time of the earthquake. A total of 17 (23.9%) patients with grade A impairment based on ASIA impairment Scale (AIS) at the time of the earthquake had significant neurological recovery. In addition, younger patients had better neurological outcomes. Those who had fracture dislocations had a worse outcome. Spinal cord injuries that are due to earthquakes have a better neurological outcome in comparison with other causes of this injury. The patients' ages and types of spinal fractures were significantly related to the neurological outcome.