Can Vibration Stimulation of the Foot Sole Activate Leg Muscles?

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Spinal Cord Injury
• Interventions: Other: plantar vibration

• Registration Number: NCT02043106
• Lead Sponsor: Wilfrid Laurier University

Brief Summary

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.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2013-11-25
• Study Start: 2014-01
• Study First Submitted QC: 2014-01-20
• Study First Posted: 2014-01-23
• Primary Completion: 2014-04
• Study Completion: 2014-04
• Status Verified: 2015-03
• Last Update Submitted: 2015-03-05
• Last Update Posted: 2015-03-06

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 8

Inclusion Criteria

• no spinal cord injury

Exclusion Criteria

• any musculoskeletal or neurological disease that affects movement or balance

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
spinal cord injury	plantar vibration	Individuals who have sustained an incomplete spinal cord injury
non-spinal cord injury	plantar vibration	Individuals who have not sustained a spinal cord injury

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Muscle activity	up to 2 months after experiment	Muscle activity will be measured by electromyography equipment (two electrodes placed on the muscle belly) and then the outcome measures will be the description of both the timing (relative to task onset) and magintude of muscle activity.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Biomechanics Lab, Wilfrid Laurier University; 🇨🇦 Waterloo, Ontario, Canada