Modeling motor responses of paraplegics under epidural spinal cord stimulation

Abstract

Epidural spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a promising therapy for spinal cord injury (SCI). This paper combines experimental data from epidurally-stimulated human paraplegic patients with computational models of SCS to identify the electric field features correlated with the patients' ability to stand. We locate the spinal cord regions most critical to stimulated standing and find that the most informative stimulating features agree with results from nerve fiber theory. Further applications of our work include developing algorithms to optimize stimulation configurations for SCI patients, determining optimal electrode placement, and considering novel electrode array designs.

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