A Neuromotor Device for Reducing Phantom Limb Pain in Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury

Lei Cui,Gonzalo Sepulveda Astudillo,Garry T Allison,D Zhang,G Cui,B Zi,H Ding

doi:10.1051/matecconf/20167709001

Abstract

Phantom Limb Pain is a disorder that can be experienced by individuals after amputation or spinal cord injury. In spinal cord injury the paralysis or paresis is often bilateral, thus limiting the application of apparent movement as a therapeutic model for phantom limb pain. This project aimed to develop a robotic rehabilitation device that replicated apparent movement to apply the same therapeutic principles with individuals with lower limb phantom pain that have bilateral paralysis of paresis. The proposed device achieved lower limb planar motion of the knee by a six-bar linkage of a single degree of freedom (DOF). It is driven by a linear actuator while the ankle motion is achieved by a gear motor, reaching an effective 70° range of motion for both joints. The system features closed loop control using feedback from surface electromyography sensors, limit switches and position sensors with an Arduino microcontroller as the control unit. This device will be used to further our understanding of the disorder and create opportunities for robot aided treatment for individuals with phantom limb pain as a result of spinal cord injury.

Highlights

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord, which could lead to loss of mobility and sensory function
Neuropathic pain occurs in the insensate region below a complete SCI is usually predominated by central nervous system mechanisms in a way similar to phantom limb pain (PLP) following amputations [2]
It has been hypothesized that the illusion of limb movement in individuals with SCI (Moseley et al ) as they think of moving their limb may reduce the symptoms of neuropathic pain, as the mirror technique alleviated the symptoms of PLP in amputees [3].It is likely that any successful therapeutic device relies on the coordination of the imaginary movement and the concordant visual feedback of the movement

Summary

Introduction

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord, which could lead to loss of mobility and sensory function. It has been hypothesized that the illusion of limb movement in individuals with SCI (Moseley et al ) as they think of moving their limb may reduce the symptoms of neuropathic pain, as the mirror technique alleviated the symptoms of PLP in amputees [3].It is likely that any successful therapeutic device relies on the coordination of the imaginary movement (specific motor cortex activation) and the concordant visual feedback of the movement. Such coordination is critical as it has been shown that imaginary movement without visual feedback of the limb moving increases temporary dysthesia or replicates localised pain memory for PLP [4, 5]

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion