Surface EMG and ultrasound in MND
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the electro-mechanical coupling of fasciculations in motor neuron disease using surface electromyography and ultrasound: a feasibility study
IRAS ID
260831
Contact name
Chris Shaw
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 2 months, 31 days
Research summary
Patients with motor neurone disease typically experience relentless motor decline and die within three years of symptom onset from respiratory muscle weakness. There are currently no effective therapies and the discovery of novel therapies is hampered by the lack of a sensitive disease biomarker. Consequently, there is a huge drive to discover novel biomarkers, which can reliably track disease progression over time. These can then be incorporated into clinical drug trials to expedite effective drug discovery. \n\nMuscle fasciculations represent the hyperexcitability of diseased motor neurons and are almost universally present from the early stages of MND. We predict that the site, frequency and shape of fasciculations might provide a sensitive measure of disease progression in an individual. \n\nWe have been conducting a 12-month longitudinal study of 25 patients, performing high-density surface EMG every two months. We have validated an automated technique to process these large data sets (Bashford et al 2019, Clinical Neurophysiology [In Press]). \n\nUltrasound is widely used in clinical medicine to assess anatomical structure in a safe and non-invasive way. Dr Emma Hodson-Tole (Manchester Metropolitan University) and her group have been applying this to the analysis of fasciculations in healthy individuals and patients with MND. \n\nThis collaborative project will explore combining these two techniques simultaneously in patients with motor neuron disease and control subjects. The goal is to explore the nature of electro-mechanical coupling related to fasciculations and to determine whether any of these properties are pathophysiological. This would complement other studies from our two groups, investigating the natural history and potential utility of fasciculations as a biomarker of motor neurone health in MND. \n
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/YH/0164
Date of REC Opinion
29 May 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion