Effect of low-level laser therapy on quadriceps and foot muscle fatigue in children with spastic diplegia: a randomized controlled study.

Spastic diplegia is the most common form of cerebral palsy; children with spastic diplegia are suffering from muscle fatigue and spasticity which lead to decreasing power of muscles, impaired motor control, and many functional abilities. The effect of low-level laser (LLL) has a good result as it improves muscles pain and spasticity and in decreasing lactate levels. Forty children were selected with spastic diplegia and were divided into two groups: A and B. Group A received low-level laser treatment (LLLT) with physiotherapy treatment. Group B got physiotherapy sessions. Pain intensity was assessed by the visual analog scale (VAS) of pain which is reliable from age 5, before treatment and after 1-month follow-up. Muscle fatigue and power were assessed by maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) before treatment and after 1-month follow-up. Also, we tested blood lactate level in both groups; all evaluations were done before treatment and after 1-month follow-up. We found a significant difference between the two groups in VAS and MVIC and blood lactate level test regarding low-level therapy after 1-month follow-up. There is a good effect of low-level laser in increasing muscle power, decreasing blood lactate level, and improving pain.

Effectiveness of Hand-Arm Bimanual Intensive Therapy on Hand Function among Children with Unilateral Spastic Cerebral Palsy: A Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Hand-arm bimanual intensive therapy (HABIT) has been shown to be an effective method for improving upper-extremity function. However, owing to ambiguity within the evidence of HABIT's effects on hand function among children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy (CP), this meta-analysis sought to elucidate whether the same was true in this patient population. SUMMARY: A computerized database search yielded 468 studies. After meticulous scrutiny and screening of these studies according to the selection criteria, 4 full-text articles were included in the meta-analysis. All 4 studies underwent a methodological quality assessment according to the Physiotherapy Evidence Database Scale (PEDro), with a score of greater than 8. Five comparisons were then made involving the 4 selected randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The effect size was measured using the correlation coefficient (r value). The effect sizes of the individual studies were 0.006, 0.03, 0.04, 0.22, and 0.15. The total effect size was 0.06. Key Message: This meta-analysis determined that there is a trivial benefit using HABIT when compared to constraint-induced movement therapy or structured and unstructured bimanual therapy in pediatric patients with unilateral spastic CP. More RCTs are needed to substantiate our evidence.

Medical Diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy Rehabilitation Using Eye Images in Machine Learning Techniques.

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a non progressive neurological disorders commonly associated with a spectrum of developmental disabilities such as strabismus (misalignment of eye). The Eye image are captured through camera, this make the quick diagnosis and examination the periodical assessment for CP kids. By capturing the Eye Movement of 40 children with CP (aged 3-11 years) with relatively mild motor-impairment and also we have analyzed the performance of CP children periodically. Nowadays, Bio-Medical image processing and Machine learning Classification algorithm used for detection and diagnosis the certain diseases and plays the important tool to decrease the risk of any diseases. This work presents a computational methodology to automatically diagnose the Improvement of CP children and performance can be evaluated. The alternate medical evaluation techniques have shown their potential for the treatment and diagnosis of disease like strabismus and nystagmus for CP kids. The proposed method is used to measure and quantify the performance improvement by classify the abnormal eye condition of CP kids and these results attained by machine learning method. The results show the best classification accuracy of 94.17% calculated from Neural Network Classifier. Specificity Rate were absorbed as 0.9800 and Sensitivity Rate were absorbed as 0.9165 respectively. The proposed method for non-invasive and automatic detection of abnormalities in CP kids and evaluates the performance improvement more accurately.

Machine learning algorithms for activity recognition in ambulant children and adolescents with cerebral palsy.

BACKGROUND: Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common physical disability among children (2.5 to 3.6 cases per 1000 live births). Inadequate physical activity (PA) is a major problem effecting the health and well-being of children with CP. Practical, yet accurate measures of PA are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of surgical and therapy-based interventions to increase PA. Accelerometer-based motion sensors have become the standard for objectively measuring PA in children and adolescents; however, current methods for estimating physical activity intensity in children with CP are associated with significant error and may dramatically underestimate HPA in children with more severe mobility limitations. Machine learning (ML) models that first classify the PA type and then predict PA intensity or energy expenditure using activity specific regression equations may be more accurate than standalone regression models. However, the feasibility and validity of ML methods has not been explored in youth with CP. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop and test ML models for the automatic identification of PA type in ambulant children with CP. METHODS: Twenty two children and adolescents (mean age: 12.8 ± 2.9 y) with CP classified at GMFCS Levels I to III completed 7 activity trials while wearing an ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer on the hip and wrist. Trials were categorised as sedentary (SED), standing utilitarian movements (SUM), comfortable walking (CW), and brisk walking (BW). Random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and binary decision tree (BDT) classifiers were trained with features extracted from the vector magnitude (VM) of the raw acceleration signal using 10 s non-overlapping windows. Performance was evaluated using leave-one-subject out cross validation. RESULTS: SVM (82.0-89.0%) and RF (82.6-88.8%) provided significantly better classification accuracy than BDT (76.1-86.2%). Hip (82.7-85.5%) and wrist (76.1-82.6%) classifiers exhibited comparable prediction accuracy, while the combined hip and wrist (86.2-89.0%) classifiers achieved the best overall performance. For all classifiers, recognition accuracy was excellent for SED (94.1-97.9%), good to excellent for SUM (74.0-96.6%) and brisk walking (71.5-86.0%), and modest for comfortable walking (47.6-70.4%). When comfortable and brisk walking were combined into a single walking class, recognition accuracy ranged from 90.3 to 96.5%. CONCLUSIONS: ML methods provided acceptable classification accuracy for detection of a range of activities commonly performed by ambulatory children with CP. The resultant models can help clinicians more effectively monitor bouts of brisk walking in the community. The results indicate that 2-step models that first classify PA type and then predict energy expenditure using activity specific regression equations are worthy of exploration in this patient group.

Efficacy of photobiomodulation therapy on masseter thickness and oral health-related quality of life in children with spastic cerebral palsy.

The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) on bilateral masseter muscle thickness and amplitude of mouth opening in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP), and the impact on their oral health-related quality of life (OHRQOL). Three groups were included: experimental CP group (EG: n = 26 with oral complaints), positive control CP group (PCG: n = 26 without complaints), and negative control group (NCG: n = 26 without CP). In the EG, the masseter muscles on both sides were irradiated with an infrared low-level Ga-Al-As laser (λ = 808 ± 3 nm, 120 mW) using a 3 J/cm2 energy dose per site, with a 20 s exposure time per site (spot area: 4 mm2; irradiance: 3 W/cm2; energy delivery per point: 2.4 J) six times over six consecutive weeks. Masseter thickness, assessed through ultrasonography, and the amplitude of mouth opening were measured in the EG before and after six applications of PBMT and once in the PCG and NCG. The Parental-Caregiver Perception Questionnaire (P-CPQ) was used to evaluate OHRQOL. ANOVA, chi-square, t tests, and multilevel linear regression were used for statistical analysis. In the EG, the study results revealed average increments of 0.77 (0.08) millimeter in masseter thickness (P < 0.05) and 7.39 (0.58) millimeter for mouth opening (P < 0.05) and reduction in all P-CPQ domains (P < 0.001), except for social well-being. The six applications of PBMT increased masseter thickness and mouth opening amplitude and reduced the impact of spastic CP on OHRQOL.

Validation of Accelerometer Cut-Points in Children With Cerebral Palsy Aged 4 to 5 Years.

PURPOSE: To derive and validate triaxial accelerometer cut-points in children with cerebral palsy (CP) and compare these with previously established cut-points in children with typical development. METHODS: Eighty-four children with CP aged 4 to 5 years wore the ActiGraph during a play-based gross motor function measure assessment that was video-taped for direct observation. Receiver operating characteristic and Bland-Altman plots were used for analyses. RESULTS: The ActiGraph had good classification accuracy in Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels III and V and fair classification accuracy in GMFCS levels I, II, and IV. These results support the use of the previously established cut-points for sedentary time of 820 counts per minute in children with CP aged 4 to 5 years across all functional abilities. CONCLUSIONS: The cut-point provides an objective measure of sedentary and active time in children with CP. The cut-point is applicable to group data but not for individual children.

A Single Session of Mirror-based Tactile and Motor Training Improves Tactile Dysfunction in Children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy: A Replicated Randomized Controlled Case Series.

INTRODUCTION: This replicated randomized controlled crossover case series investigated the effect of mirror-based tactile and motor training on tactile registration and perception in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP). METHODS: Six children with UCP (6-18 years; median 10 years, five male, three-left hemiplegia, four-manual ability classification system (MACS) I, one MACS II and one MACS III) participated. They attended two 90-minute sessions - one of mirror-based training and one of standard practice, bimanual therapy - in alternated order. Tactile registration (Semmes Weinstein Monofilaments) and perception (double simultaneous or single-point localization) were assessed before and after each session. Change was estimated using reliable change index (RCI). RESULTS: Tactile perception improved in four participants (RCI > 1.75), with mirror-based training, but was unchanged with bimanual therapy (RCI < 1.0 for all participants). Neither intervention affected tactile registration. DISCUSSION: Mirror-based training demonstrates potential to improve tactile perception in children with UCP. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Efectividad de la aplicación de ultrasonido terapéutico y ejercicio de estiramiento a músculos isquiotibiales en niños con parálisis cerebral tipo diparesia espástica leve / Effectivity of the application of therapeutic ultrasound and muscle stretching exercise of the hamstring muscle in child with mild spastic diparesis cerebral palsy+5

Objetivo. Conocer si la aplicación de ultrasonido terapéutico seguido de ejercicios de estiramiento muscular es eficaz para el tratamiento de las contracturas de los músculos isquiotibiales. Diseño. Estudio cuasiexperimental, tipo antes y después, sin grupo control, donde se estudiaron 11 pacientes (22 rodillas) con parálisis cerebral infantil tipo diparesia espástica leve, con duración de 6 meses; se aplicó ultrasonido terapéutico de baja intensidad seguido de una serie de 3 estiramientos por sesión, divididas en dos bloques de 10 sesiones cada una con un periodo mínimo de descanso entre estos de 15 días. Las mediciones se realizaron al inicio y al final de cada bloque de tratamiento, consistieron en: mediciones goniométricas del ángulo poplíteo, elevación recta de la pierna, extensión, flexión y arco total de movimiento de la rodilla, tomadas por el médico especialista en rehabilitación que es ajeno al estudio. Se utilizó la prueba t de Student, del paquete estadístico SPSS 17.0, tomando un valor de p ≤0,05 como estadísticamente significativo. Resultados. Se observó una disminución en la medición del ángulo poplíteo (media basal de 47,77°; media final 23,55°; p=0,001), aumento en la elevación recta de la pierna (media basal de 49,67°; media final de 67,42°; p=0,001), aumento en el arco de movimiento de la extensión (media basal −7,05°; media final −1,95°; p=0,003) después del tratamiento. Conclusiones. El ultrasonido terapéutico seguido de ejercicios de estiramiento, es un tratamiento eficaz para las contracturas musculares de isquiotibiales (AU)

Objective. To know if the application of therapeutic ultrasound followed by muscle stretching exercises is effective in the treatment of hamstring muscle contractures. Design. An interventional, quasi-experimental, before and after design, without control group trial in which 11 patients (22 knees) with spastic diparesis infantile cerebral palsy were studied during 6 months. Low density therapeutic ultrasound was applied following by a 3 stretch series per session, divided into 2 blocks of 10 sessions each one, with at least one period of rest of 15 days between them. The clinical measurements were obtained at the onset and completion of treatment block. These consisted in: measurement of the popliteal angle, straight leg raising test, extension, flexion and total knee joint range of motion, measured by the physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor. We used the Student's T test from the SPSS statistics program version 17.0 defining a p value ≤0.05 as significant. Results. We observed a reduction in the measurement of the popliteal angle (baseline mean 47.77°; final mean 23.55°; p=0.001), an increase in the straight leg raising test (baseline mean 49.67°; final mean 67.42°; p=0.001), an increase in the extension range of motion (baseline mean −7.05°; final mean −1.95°; p=0.003), after the treatment. Conclusions. The application of therapeutic ultrasound followed by muscle stretching exercise is an effective treatment for the hamstring muscle contractures(AU)