Kristin D. Zhao, Ph.D., M.S.

The purpose of this study is to characterize the motor function deficits specific to muscle weakness, intra and interlimb coordination, and the presence, or absence of spasticity.

This is a survey study to identify user-reported motor, sensory, and autonomic functions that are enabled by epidural stimulation, establish correlations between epidural stimulation usage, rehabilitation, functional gains, and user experience in the laboratory and community settings, and to understand and identify subjective goals, benefits, and barriers that still exist with implanted epidural stimulator community.

This will be a prospective registry conducted and maintained at Mayo Clinic Rochester from which collaborating sites within Mayo, Mayo Health Systems, and other spinal cord injury centers can draw from in order to fulfill research enrollment. The information collected for this registry will be used for recruitment purposes only, and will not be used as research data. Participants who are recruited to participate in other research studies will need to complete a separate consenting/enrollment process specific to that study.

This is a study to generate feasibilty data regarding the collection of health and psychosocial outcomes after acquired spinal cord injury (SCI)

The purpose of this study is to compare the performance of the SoftHand Pro (SHP) and Ossur i-Limb in grasping and manipulations tasks, and to determine how grasping and manipulation performance improves over time with each device.  Data will also be obtained regarding usage patterns and user satisfaction with each device.

The purpose of this study is to measure differences in distal radial-ulnar joint movement between injured and uninjured wrists using motion picture CT imaging (4DCT), with the hopes of establishing a less invasive diagnostic tool than arthroscopy.  The belief is that the precise location and characteristics of the injury can be determined by measuring joint spacing during wrist rotation.

The study seeks to determine whether the 4DCT imaging technique can be used to replace current invasive diagnostic tests for ligament injuries of the wrist.

The purpose of this study is to assess healthy controls without any history of wrist injury or diseases by using 4DCT scanning during wrist movement to characterize gapping at the scapholunate, radiolunate, and radioscaphoid joints, as well as the scaphotrapeziotrapezoid (STT) joint.  This will test the hypotheses that scapholunate and STT gapping distances and bilateral asymmetry will be greater in the resisted tasks as compared to the unresisted tasks in both male and female subjects, and that gapping in females will be greater than in males.

This is a feasibility study to test the use of epidural stimulation to restore volitional function previously lost due to spinal cord injury. Previous studies conducted in animal models, performed elsewhere and here at Mayo Clinic, have shown that direct electrical stimulation of the spinal cord increases the excitability of spared neuronal connections within the site of injury, thereby enhancing signal transmission and allowing recovery of previously lost volitional function. Recently, epidural electrical stimulation of the lumbosacral spinal cord in four individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) has restored motor and autonomic function below the level of injury. Despite positive results, further translational research is needed to validate these findings. The goal of this proposal is to perform epidural stimulation to restore volitional function in patients with SCI. In two patients, we will implant an epidural stimulator onto the dorsal aspect of the lumbosacral spinal cord dura mater. Patients will undergo a structured program of daily physical rehabilitation, treadmill step training, and epidural stimulation to recover motor, sensory, and autonomic function.

The purpose of this study is to compare transcutaneous electrical spinal stimulation and epidural electrical spinal stimulation.  Relationships between stimulation input and electrophysiological output will be recorded, and changes in motor, sensory, and functional outcomes during and after stimulation will be assessed.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of percutaneous epidural spinal stimulation (ES) and task-specific training over 1 month in participants with Progressive MS to impact motor function and spasticity.

The purpose of this study is to provide educational community outreach  seminars on wellness and exercise for individuals living with a neurological physical disability and to measure the effects of these seminars for them and their care givers (family, therapists, community personal trainers and community funders such as Lions or Rotary Clubs).

The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of the CUFF device in combination with the Soft Hand Pro (SHP) in conveying haptic force feedback to patients with upper extremity limb loss, and to assess the extent to which the grip force feedback improves the embodiment of the prosthetic device.

The purpose of this study is to collect a significant amount of simultaneous B-mode and SWE ultrasound imaging data, and to combine acoustic and mechanical properties of the neural tissue to enhance its contrast among surrounding soft tissues.

The purpose of this study is to produce preliminary data testing the feasibility and effectiveness of high intensity interval training (HIIT) on cardiovascular health parameters in individuals with paraplegia.

The purpose of this study is to characterize and compare sensorimotor activity in muscles below the level of injury during Transcutaneous Epidural Spinal Stimulation (TESS) and Epidural Electrical Stimulation (EES)-enabled motor tasks, and to assess and compare changes in clinical outcomes over the course of rehabilitation with TESS and EES.

The purpose of this study is to provide confirmatory evidence that use of the LIFT System, inclusive of all components and accessories, is safe; to provide confirmatory evidence that use of the LIFT System provides an effective treatment for the restoration or improvement in UE strength and function; and to provide data regarding the potential benefits of the LIFT System to achieve other secondary outcomes such as improvement in pain, spasticity, quality of life, cardiovascular (blood pressure) and autonomic function.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate motions and forces performed in a manual wheelchair that are most likely to lead to the development of pain or pathology and determine the feasibility of strategies to modify movements and decrease risk.

The purpose of this study to observe and understand the various postures used by a child's hand for grasping things in their everyday activities. These postures will be used to form the design and implementation of myoelectric hand prosthesis for children.

The purpose of this study is to quantify shoulder movement during manual wheelchair-based activities of daily living and to determine the associated likelihood of shoulder soft tissue compression.

The aim of this study is to describe how kicking frequency and complexity differs over developmental time between typically developing infants, infants with SB who have had prenatal repair of their spinal lesion, and infants with SB who have had postnatal repair.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare implant kinematics of conventional mechanically aligned and anatomically aligned total knee arthroplasties (TKA) at 1 year post-operatively.

The purpose of this study is to assess whether or not consistent walking in an exoskeletal device provides health benefits, and to assess the level of mobility provided by the exoskeletal device to non-ambulatory and poorly-ambulatory individuals that have had a spinal cord injury. 

The proposed study is intended to inform the hypotheses that (1) regular dosing of exoskeleton walking will provide health benefits to non-ambulatory and poorly-ambulatory individuals with SCI, including decreased pain and spasticity, improvements in bowel and bladder function, decreased body-mass index (BMI), enhanced well-being; (2) regular dosing of exoskeleton walking will facilitate neurological or functional recovery in some individuals with SCI, particularly those with incomplete injuries; and (3) the level of mobility enabled by a lower limb exoskeleton is commensurate with the walking speeds, distances, and surfaces required for community ambulation.

Aims, purpose, or objectives

Aim 1: To quantify passive stiffness modifications due to RSA in deltoid muscle.

Aim 2: To interpret these modifications in the light of postoperative clinical outcomes.

The purpose of this study is to obtain normative values and repeatability measures during functional reaching tasks in able-bodied individuals with no functional limitations. The data collected may be used in the future as baseline reference and repeatability values of outcome measures against which to compare values from individuals with functional limitations to quantify their functional ability.

The objective of this proposal is to use kinematic-driven modeling approach to identify the risk of impingement during activities of daily living and ambulation with a wheelchair and gait aids across levels of functional ambulation independence.

The purpose of this study is to measure skeletal muscle (such as in the leg) stiffness through adolescence and adulthood using ultrasound. 

Aims, purpose, or objectives:

• To obtain opinions on sensory feedback from people with upper limb loss
• To obtain preferences for types of noninvasive sensory feedback
• To discover what tasks are perceived to be easier for prosthetic use with sensory feedback

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of SCONE neuromodulation therapy after 12 weeks of therapy in comparison to inactive sham control in improving symptoms of Neurogenic Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction.