Treadmill training augmented with real-time visualisation feedback and function electrical stimulation for gait rehabilitation after stroke: a feasibility study.

BACKGROUND: Stroke rehabilitation often uses the motor relearning concept that require patients to perform active practice of skill-specific training and to receive feedback. Treadmill training augmented with real-time visualisation feedback and functional electrical stimulation may have a beneficial synergistic effect on motor recovery. This study aims to determine the feasibility of this kind of enhanced treadmill training for gait rehabilitation among patients after stroke. A system for dynamic visualisation of lower-limb movement based on 3-dimentional motion capture and a computer timed functional electrical stimulation system was developed. Participants received up to 20-min enhanced treadmill training instead of their over-ground gait training once or twice a week for 6 weeks at Coathill hospital, Lanarkshire, United Kingdom. Number of training sessions attended, and training duration were used to assess feasibility. Ankle kinematics in the sagittal plane of walking with and without functional electrical stimulation support of the pre-tibial muscles were also compared and used to confirm the functional electrical stimulation was triggered at the targeted time. RESULTS: Six patients after stroke participated in the study. The majority of participants were male (5/6) with a age range from 30 to 84 years and 4/6 had left hemiplegia. All participants suffered from brain infarction and were at least 3 months after stroke. Number of training sessions attended ranged from 5 to 12. The duration of training sessions ranged from 11 to 20 min. No serious adverse events were reported. The computerised functional electrical stimulation to the pre-tibial muscles was able to reduce plantarflexion angle during the swing phase with statistical significance (p = 0.015 at 80%; p = 0.008 at 90 and 100% of the gait cycle). CONCLUSIONS: It is safe and feasible to use treadmill gait training augmented with real-time visual feedback and computer-controlled functional electrical stimulation with patients after stroke in routine clinical practice. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT03348215. Registered 20 November 2017.

Feasibility of a proactive text messaging intervention for smokers in community health centers.

Introduction: Few smokers receive evidence-based cessation services during primary care visits. We aimed to assess the feasibility of a proactive text messaging program for primary care patients who smoke. Methods: We used electronic health records (EHRs) to identify smokers from two Massachusetts community health centers who had a mobile phone number listed. In March 2014-June 2015 patients were screened by their primary care physician then sent a proactive text message inviting them to enroll by texting back. Patients who opted-in were asked about their readiness to quit. The text message program included messages from the QuitNowTXT library and novel content for smokers who were not ready to quit. Results: Among 949 eligible smokers, 88 (9%) enrolled after receiving a single proactive text message. Compared with those who did not enroll, enrollees were more often female (61% vs. 48%, p=0.02) but otherwise did not differ in age, race, insurance status, or comorbidities. Twenty-eight percent of enrollees were not ready to quit in the next 30 days. The median time in the program was 9 days (interquartile range 2-32). Twenty-five percent of current smokers sent one or more keyword requests to the server. These did not differ by readiness to quit. Conclusions: A proactively delivered text messaging program targeting primary care patients who smoke was feasible and engaged both smokers ready to quit and those not ready to quit. This method shows promise as part of a population health model for addressing tobacco use outside of the primary care office.

Biomedical journals: keeping up and reading critically.

By extrapolation from studies of physicians, knowledge and practice of laboratory animal medicine and science are expected to become progressively more outdated the longer practitioners are out of school. Keeping up with current literature and practice is a challenge that necessitates the use of many different sources of continuing education. Both veterinarians and physicians consistently list journals as the most beneficial source of new information. Accordingly, they must select from the veterinary and biomedical literature articles that report original studies and systematic reviews and recognize and respond to valid new knowledge to improve diagnostic and therapeutic approaches and maintain consistent clinical skills. Other objectives include selecting journals for general information and for information relevant or specific to one's field of research. Lastly, candidates for board certification need to read articles from journals that potentially provide the basis for questions on the examination. 'High-impact' journals should be identified, and articles should be reviewed critically. In a survey of recent candidates for laboratory animal medicine board examination, these journals included Contemporary Topics (now JAALAS), Comparative Medicine, ILAR Journal, and Laboratory Animals. Strategies for coping with the challenge of staying current with the literature include wise use of technology, journal clubs, and consultation with colleagues. A laboratory animal practitioner can become a better scientist and clinician by evaluating the research performed by others. Thorough, critical review of biomedical literature is paramount to these goals.

Quantitative sensory testing cannot differentiate simulated sensory loss from sensory neuropathy.

OBJECTIVE: To differentiate the quantitative sensory testing (QST) results of subjects simulating small and large fiber sensory loss from those of normal subjects and subjects with sensory peripheral neuropathy. BACKGROUND: QST is used to measure sensory thresholds in clinical, epidemiologic, and research studies. It is not known whether there are objective test results that characterize the subject seeking to deceive the examiner. METHODS: The Computer Aided Sensory Examination IV 4, 2, and 1 stepping algorithm was used to determine vibration and cold perception in nine naïve subjects. Subjects were asked to simulate sensory loss (on two occasions) and to respond normally on one occasion. Test results were compared to those of subjects with diabetic sensory neuropathy. Each QST trial was performed three times. RESULTS: Reproducibility, measured by the intraclass correlation coefficient, was similar in all groups for the vibration perception test (simulation 1: 0.68 [95% CI 0.31, 0.91], simulation 2: 0.82 [95% CI 0.54, 0.95], normal response: 0.77 [95% CI 0.47, 0.94], and subjects with peripheral neuropathy: 0.76 [95% CI 0.18, 0.95]) and the cold perception test (simulation 1: 0.53 [95% CI 0.12, 0.85], simulation 2: 0.82 [95% CI 0.55, 0.95], normal subjects: 0.67 [95% CI 0.30, 0.90] and subjects with peripheral neuropathy: 0.88 [95% CI 0.57, 0.97]), all just noticeable difference units. There were no differences between performance characteristics in the two simulation trials. Responses to null stimuli did not differentiate between groups. CONCLUSION: Test performance characteristics do not permit discrimination among subjects simulating sensory loss, subjects with normal responses, and subjects with peripheral neuropathy.