Evaluation of a toolkit for standardizing clinical measures of muscle tone

Objective : To evaluate a new portable toolkit for quantifying upper and lower extremity muscle tone
in patients with upper motor neuron syndrome (UMNS). Approach : Cross-sectional, multi-site,
observational trial to test and validate a new technology. Setting : Neurorehabilitation clinics at
tertiary care hospitals. Participants : Four cohorts UMNS patient,>6 mo post acquired brain injury,
spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy, and a sample of healthy age-matched adult
controls. Measures : Strength: grip, elbow flexor and extensor, and knee extensor; range of motion
(ROM): passive ROM (contracture) and passive-active ROM (paresis); objective spasticity:
stretch-reflex test for elbow, and pendulum test for knee; subjective spasticity: modified Ashworth
scale scores for elbow and knee flexors and extensors. Results : Measures were acquired for 103
patients from three rehabilitation clinics. Results for patient cohorts w...

Source: Physiological Measurement - August 7, 2018 Category: Physiology Authors: Chris A McGibbon, Andrew Sexton, Glen Hughes, Adam Wilson, Melony Jones, Colleen O ’Connell, Kim Parker, Catherine Adans-Dester, Anne O’Brien and Paolo Bonato Source Type: research