Anatomical correlates of upper limb impairment after stroke
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Anatomical correlates of upper limb impairment after stroke
IRAS ID
190253
Contact name
Nick Ward
Contact email
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2015/11/35, Data Protection
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 30 days
Research summary
Quantitative assessment of movement impairment after stroke is important for discriminating healthy and pathological conditions and for expressing the outcomes and clinically important changes in subjects' functional abilities. The aim of this study therefore is (i) to examine in detail which muscles and joints are affected during a complex movement after stroke; (ii) to determine which of these change most during a 3 week period of intensive upper limb rehabilitation.; and (iii) test whether there is a relationship between patterns of upper limb impairment (and improvement during treatment) and the spatial characteristics of the stroke-related brain damage (i.e. size and location).
We will investigate upper limb movement patterns in 50 chronic stroke patients, most of which will be undergoing a 3-week intensive upper limb rehabilitation program at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square (Dr Ward). Most patients will receive a structural MRI prior to intervention, which will be collected as part of another study. Kinematic and electromyographic data of simple and complex movements will be recorded cross-sectionally in pilot recordings and longitudinally before, immediately after and at 6 weeks after the end of the rehabilitation program. Distinct patterns of movement alterations and recovery profiles will be analyzed both from the affected and unaffected limb to distinguish real improvement in upper limb movement/co-ordination and impairment compensatory movements. Subsequently, the spatial lesion characteristics will be automatically determined from a structural MRI scan, which is provided to us. We will look for a relationship between these spatial lesion characteristics and movement measures using multivariate techniques.
This work will improve on the currently crude assessments of gross motor function of the upper limb after stroke that are unquestionably valuable to determine clinical levels of function but are insufficient at unveiling underlying mechanisms.REC name
South Central - Berkshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/SC/0761
Date of REC Opinion
17 Dec 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion