Oct. 17, 2002--The University of Delaware’s Center for Biomedical Engineering Research has received a five-year, $3.1 million Biomedical Research Partnership Award from the National Institutes of Health to help stroke patients regain their ability to walk.
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| Thomas S. Buchanan, UD professor of mechanical engineering, heads the research project aimed at helping stroke patients walk again. |
This is the second major NIH grant the center has received this year. In April, the center announced an NIH grant of $6.4 million for research on osteoarthritis.
Through the new grant, researchers in the center will help stroke patients suffering central nervous system dysfunction learn to walk again through a combination of electrical stimulation of their muscles and the use of a rehabilitation robot, according to Thomas S. Buchanan, UD professor of mechanical engineering and director of the project.
“In our protocol, muscles will be electrically stimulated in an impaired leg to activate them and move the limb, bypassing the normal commands from the brain that are not working properly in patients with strokes,” Buchanan said. “The robot will help move the impaired leg to train a patient how to walk again following the stroke.”
Within a decade, Buchanan said the research team hopes to develop a portable functional electrical stimulation device that can be worn by patients to assist in the production of coordinated leg movements.
The multidisciplinary project will involve faculty members from the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Physical Therapy. The scientists will work together through the Center for Biomedical Engineering Research.
Buchanan is the principal investigator and will build musculoskeletal models of the leg. Kurt Manal, associate scientist in mechanical engineering, will work with Buchanan on the models.
Stuart Binder-Macleod, co-principal investigator and chair of the Department of Physical Therapy, will supervise the functional electronic stimulation, or FES, portion of the project. Jun Ding, a researcher in physical therapy, will work with Binder-Macleod on the FES protocols.
Sunil Agrawal, professor of mechanical engineering, will supervise construction of the robot.
The project team also includes John Scholz, associate professor of physical therapy and an expert on stroke and neurological injuries, and Katherine Rudolph, assistant professor of physical therapy and an expert on human gait analysis.
Buchanan said the project has three major components, the first of which is to identify impairments in the locomotor patterns of patients through biomechanical modeling using gait analysis and electromyographic data.
The second is to develop methods and equipment to optimize locomotion of stroke patients, using the electrical stimulus and the robotic device.
The final component is to test the feasibility of the new system and make adjustments based on patient trials. The 10-year goal is the development of a portable device that patients can wear to assist them in walking.
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