Can Vibration Stimulation of the Foot Sole Activate Leg Muscles?

Wilfrid Laurier University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Spinal Cord Injury

Treatments: Other: plantar vibration

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02043106

MC_SCIPS

Details and patient eligibility

About

Participants will be asked to complete three different tests (standing, stepping and assisted walking) and will experience three different experimental conditions during each test. The three conditions are types of vibratory plantar cutaneous stimulation, which include no vibratory stimulation, submaximal vibratory stimulation and supramaximal vibratory stimulation. In the first condition, participants will experience no stimulation applied to any part of the body. In the second condition, a submaximal vibratory stimulus will be delivered at 90% of the participant's threshold to the surface of the foot. In the third condition, a supramaximal vibratory stimulus will be delivered at three times the participant's threshold. The hypothesis is that this plantar stimulation (90% threshold and supramaximal) will elicit increased muscle activity during these tests. If the hypothesis is positive then this protocol will also be presented in incomplete spinal cord injuried participants.

Enrollment: 8 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 45 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• no spinal cord injury

Exclusion criteria

• any musculoskeletal or neurological disease that affects movement or balance

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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8 participants in 2 patient groups

spinal cord injury

Experimental group

Description:

Individuals who have sustained an incomplete spinal cord injury

Treatment:

Other: plantar vibration

non-spinal cord injury

Active Comparator group

Description:

Individuals who have not sustained a spinal cord injury

Treatment:

Other: plantar vibration