Research Project
3507813
The primary objective is to make and to test clinically a prototype computer-aided, portable myotatic reflex measurement system for use in clinical neurology and clinical research on humans and for laboratory research on large animals. It will consist of a hand-held, instrumented reflex gun containing a microprocessor programmed (1) to deliver reproducible, quantified stimuli ("tendon taps") of graded intensity to the muscle's tendon and (2) to measure reflex response parameters from the same tendon automatically. Transducer engineers, a biomedical engineer, and a neurologist will combine their expertise to build a prototype system suitable for commercial development by (1) improving the physical design of the preprototype model of the relex gun and refining the computer program developed during Phase I, (2) incorporating a microprocessor - based control and data acquisition system into the gun and (3) testing the resulting product on human volunteers and patients in a clinical setting. This unique, system is technically innovative. It will provide clinicians (neurologists, neurosurgeons, physiatrists), clinical investigators (including neuropharmacologists), and laboratory investigators with an automated, noninvasive, convenient tool to quantitate all significant parameters of the important tendon stretch reflexes reliably -- something not possible before. The resulting data will contribute to the diagnosis and localization of central and peripheral neurologic dysfunction by assessing the overall central facilitation and peripheral integrity of the reflex arc, allow one to follow the natural course of certain neurologic illnesses and their response to therapy through changes in the reflexes over time, and quantify some effects of investigative drugs affecting the nervous system (eg: drugs that alter spasticity).
