FES-Rowing and Bone Health in Spinal Cord Injury

Background

People with SCI have weakened bones due to the lack of mechanical stimulation that they used to receive during daily life prior to their injuries, and this exposes them to high fracture risk. Therefore, researchers have been trying either exercise or pharmaceutical interventions to address this issue.

During my PhD, I investigated one novel exercise intervention, functional electrical stimulation rowing (FES-rowing), to see whether it can help preventing bone loss in people with SCI. Half of our cohort also took Zoledronic Acid, a druge that inhibits bone resorption.

Purpose

Determine whether 1-year FES-rowing with and without Zoledronic Acid could prevent bone loss in people with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Findings

1. FES-rowing alone has a neglectable effect on maintaining bone strength compared to FES-rowing combined with Zoledronic Acid.

2. The SCI user received much smaller knee loads during FES-rowing compared to the mechanical loads from daily activities (i.e.,walking).

Future directions

Increasing joint loading in FES-rowing through optimized FES technology ergometer design may improve the osteogenic benefit of this rehabilitative exercise.

Acknowledgement

This project was funded by American Society of Biomechanics Grant-in-Aid.

Resources

Code

All matlab scripts to:

• conduct inverse kinematics based on marker data from motion capture
• synchornize force plate and motion capture data for inverse dynamics
• calculate lower limb angle, moment, and power

Publication

• Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) Assisted Rowing Combined with Zoledronic Acid, but Not Alone, Preserves Distal Femur Strength and Stiffness in People with Chronic Spinal Cord Injury
• Effect of Adapted Ergometer Setup and Rowing Speed on Lower Extremity Loading in People with and without Spinal Cord Injury
• Combination Therapy with Zoledronic Acid and FES-row Training Reduces Bone Loss in the Paralyzed Legs: Results of a Randomized Comparative Clinical Trial
• Anthropometric and Biomechanical Characteristics of Body Segments in Persons with Spinal Cord Injury

Others

Phd Dissertation
Grant-in-Aid proposal