Safety of mapping the motor networks in the spinal cord using penetrating microelectrodes in Yucatan minipigs.

Objective: The goal of this study was to assess the safety of mapping spinal cord locomotor networks using penetrating stimulation microelectrodes in Yucatan minipigs (YMPs) as a clinically translational animal model.

Methods: Eleven YMPs were trained to walk up and down a straight line. Motion capture was performed, and electromyographic (EMG) activity of hindlimb muscles was recorded during overground walking.

Skin and not dorsal root stimulation reduces hypertonus in thoracic motor complete spinal cord injury: a single case report.

On demand and localized treatment for excessive muscle tone after spinal cord injury (SCI) is currently not available. Here, we examine the reduction in leg hypertonus in a person with mid-thoracic, motor complete SCI using a commercial transcutaneous electrical stimulator (TES) applied at 50 or 150 Hz to the lower back and the possible mechanisms producing this bilateral reduction in leg tone. Hypertonus of knee extensors without and during TES, with both cathode (T11-L2) and anode (L3-L5) placed over the spinal column (midline, MID) or 10 cm to the left of midline (lateral, LAT) to only active underlying skin and muscle afferents, was simultaneously measured in both legs with the pendulum test.

Overground gait kinematics and muscle activation patterns in the Yucatan mini pig.

The objectives of this study were to assess gait biomechanics and the effect of overground walking speed on gait parameters, kinematics, and electromyographic (EMG) activity in the hindlimb muscles of Yucatan minipigs (YMPs).Nine neurologically-intact, adult YMPs were trained to walk overground in a straight line. Whole-body kinematics and EMG activity of hindlimb muscles were recorded and analyzed at six different speed ranges (0.

Timing and dosage of FES cycling early after acute spinal cord injury: A case series report.

Objective: To understand the progression in parameters of functional electrical stimulation (FES) cycling dosage (including duration, velocity, stimulation amplitudes, power output), and the resulting changes in muscle mass early after acute spinal cord injury (SCI).

Methods: Three participants, 24-38 years old, with neurological injury level C4-T4, severity AIS (American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale) A-C, started FES cycling 16-20 days post injury while admitted at a level-1 trauma center in Canada, and continued for 8-13 weeks in a rehabilitation hospital. They performed three sessions/week of 15-45 min FES cycling, supine or sitting.

Comparative neuroanatomy of the lumbosacral spinal cord of the rat, cat, pig, monkey, and human.

The overall goal of this work was to create a high-resolution MRI atlas of the lumbosacral enlargement of the spinal cord of the rat (Sprague-Dawley), cat, domestic pig, rhesus monkey, and human. These species were chosen because they are commonly used in basic and translational research in spinal cord injuries and diseases. Six spinal cord specimens from each of the studied species (total of 30 specimens) were fixed, extracted, and imaged.