Neuromotor and musculoskeletal responses to locomotor training for an individual with chronic motor complete AIS-B spinal cord injury.

Background/objective: To determine the effects of locomotor training (LT) using body weight support (BWS), treadmill, and manual assistance on muscle activation, bone mineral density (BMD), and body composition changes for an individual with motor complete spinal cord injury (AIS B), 1 year after injury.

Methods: A man with chronic C6 AIS B (motor complete and sensory incomplete) spinal cord injury (SCI), 1 year after injury, completed 2 blocks of LT over a 9-month training period (35-session block followed by 8.6 weeks of no training and then a 62-session block).

Algorithm for the detection of muscle activation in surface electromyograms during periodic activity.

A simple surface electromyography (EMG) activation detection algorithm was developed for improved numerical definition of initiation and deactivation of muscle activity during periodic motion when maximum voluntary contractions are impractical to obtain. For the encapsulation of activation/ deactivation periods of a signal as percentages of normal cycle parameters, two interrelated and variable thresholds of percent amplitude and duration of a normalized cycle were the analyzed inputs into an algorithm. Outputs for statistical analysis were total percent activation per cycle, standard deviation of activity per cycle, and temporal indices of where the signal turned on and off.