Clinical Trials

The purpose of this study is to collect preliminary data related to the clinical utility of the SPEAC System in patients with a history of motor seizures.

The purpose of this study is to investigate motor unit recruitment during  isometric contractions in human muscles.

The first purpose is to investigate the effect of pedal rate during submaximal exercise activation of locomotor muscle afferents on ventilation, gas exchange, blood pressure, and cardiac hemodynamic responses in healthy individuals compared with HF patients. We will determine the influence of pedal rate on ventilation, gas exchange, blood pressure, and cardiac hemodynamic responses on activation of group III and IV locomotor muscle afferents using a novel application and integration of two separate but related scientific questions to better understand peripheral mechanisms of exercise tolerance in humans. The second purpose is to investigate whether pedal rates during exercise with activation of locomotor muscle afferents influences ventilation, gas exchange, blood pressure, and cardiac hemodynamic responses evoked by post-exercise normal recovery (NR), subsystolic regional circulatory occlusion (RCO), or suprasystolic RCO. The third purpose is to compare ventilation, gas exchange, blood pressure, and cardiac hemodynamic responses across the adult healthy aging spectrum and compared with HF patients.

The purpose of this study is to examine if there is a difference in muscle activity in two different techniques of performing a lunge exercise.

Physical therapists, personal trainers, and strength and conditioning specialists spend substantial time teaching clients how to strengthen their core. Core muscles provide a stable base for limb movement. Little research has been done looking at specific core and extremity muscle activation with variations of push-up exercises, specifically using the TRX© suspension system.

The purpose of this study is to determine the benefit to postoperative facial nerve function of using electromyography (EMG) based monitoring of facial nerve function during surgery to remove the parotid gland for superficial benign lesions.

The purpose of this study is to correlate the objective electromyography (EMG)-derived data (TOFR, TOFC, PTC) with subjective (blinded) evaluation of responses using the TetraGraph.

The purpose of this study is to assess the onset of neuromuscular blockade and recovery profiles of aminosteroidal neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs) after sugammadex at the flexor hallucis brevis (great toe) and adductor pollicis (thumb) muscles.

The primary objective of this study is to determine if the commencement of BIS monitoring relative to the administration of muscle relaxants has any effect on BIS values. The current study is a continuation of the project: “Bispectral Index: A Comparison of Bifrontal Montage Agreement” by Dr. Matthew Ritter and Wade Kreun, SRNA which validated the concurrent bifrontal use of BIS sensors. BIS monitors are FDA approved to assess the depth of sedation by analyzing segments of electroencephalogram (EEG) waves. They consist of a sensor, a digital signal converter, and a monitor. A BIS score is not a physiologic measurement, but a statistical predictor of the depth of anesthesia.1 The BIS monitor utilizes a proprietary algorithm to quantify changes in the EEG information during anesthesia and outputs a number (0-100) that corresponds with a patient’s level of consciousness. A level of 0 indicates no EEG activity (complete suppression of cortical activity); a level of 90 -100 indicates awake EEG activity.  Several studies demonstrated that BIS monitors may not be useful in paralyzed patients, as patients who were paralyzed and not sedated unexpectedly showed a large decrease in their BIS values following administration paralytic medications.2-4 Vivien et al2 found BIS values dropped an average of 24 points in already sedated patients when the patients were given paralytics. In the same year, Messner and colleagues paralyzed unsedated volunteers and found a dramatic drop in BIS values until paralysis wore off or was reversed.3 Schuller et al4 repeated the Messner experiment and found similar results with 18 of 20 unsedated volunteer’s BIS values dropping to levels expected of patients who were sedated. These results suggest that BIS monitors are integrating electromyography (EMG) data into its algorithm to derive a BIS value. Our hypothesis is that when the BIS monitor is activated after the patient is paralyzed, then EMG activity will not be applied to the BIS algorithm providing a cleaner data set and more accurate representation of a patient’s level of sedation and a more accurate indicator of actual BIS value.  Studying in this manner will require the subject to wear two BIS sensors in a frontal montage. The manufacturer of the sensors gives no guidance as to which side of the forehead an individual sensor is placed. However, the previous study by Dr. Matthew Ritter and Wade Kreun demonstrated BIS validity with the use of concurrent bifrontal sensors. The data obtained from that study is used as a framework for current BIS study. 

The purpose of this study is to examine test-retest reliability of measurements obtained with cross recurrence quantification analysis with respect to (A) dynamic hip-knee motion coupling patterns and (B) gluteus maximus-gluteus medius EMG recruitment coupling patterns during single-limb step-downs.