km14ta@brocku.ca<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n\u201cTwo years ago, I received overwhelming support from the MS community,\u201d says Mannella, who is now a PhD student in Health Biosciences.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just am very grateful to have this grant, which is going to advance research for patients with MS,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m really excited to get this work started.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the centre of the research is the Wristbot, a made-to-order haptic device used to study arm and wrist biomechanics and motor control. Housed in Brock University\u2019s Neuromechanics and Ergonomics Lab, the equipment is the only one of its kind in a Canadian university.<\/p>\n
In Mannella\u2019s earlier study, when participants grasped the joystick, the machine alternated between helping them to manipulate the stick and providing resistance so that moving the stick was more difficult.<\/p>\n
The robot used real-time feedback of the participants\u2019 performance on a hand-tracing task to alter the muscular demands placed on the user, effectively delivering an individualized protocol to maximize performance and adaptation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found that combining assistance and resistance led to participants reporting stronger muscles, reduced muscular fatigue and other positive outcomes,\u201d says Mannella.<\/p>\n
Besides expanding the research base to verify earlier results, the team is exploring whether the Wristbot can be used to bring about a phenomenon called \u2018cross-education.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cMS is a bilateral disease but there is often a more affected limb,\u201d explains Holmes. \u201cManual therapy and exercise for the limb that is more spastic or weak can be challenging to rehabilitate.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says that in addition to rehabilitating the stronger limb, the researchers hope their approach can strengthen and increase skill in the weaker (untrained) limb by stimulating neural pathways in the spinal cord and brain, known as cross-education (CE).<\/p>\n
\u201cVery little research has focused on the neurophysiology of CE in MS and thus the site of neural adaptation is not known,\u201d says Holmes. \u201cWe believe that a deeper investigation into CE using robotics could revolutionize MS therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team\u2019s research has three goals: develop an adaptive robotic training program for the hand and wrist; fully understand the adaptations of CE in people living with MS; and link objective data from the robot to participants\u2019 subjective assessments of how they think Wristbot therapy is or isn\u2019t helping them.<\/p>\n
The team is aiming to start the research early next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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