Seated Postural and Reaching Control Training with the Trunk Support Trainer (TruST)
“We wanted to scientifically demonstrate how robotic TruST can be used to deliver an intense activity-based postural and reaching training to improve the functional sitting abilities of children with CP and trunk control problems”, says Victor Santamaria, a physical therapist and associate researcher scientist in Agrawal’s Robotics and Rehabilitation Laboratory, and first author of the paper.
Recent developments in robotic equipment have enabled clinicians to address engagement, repetition, and intensity for their patients to practice task-oriented movements in CP. A team led by Agrawal, together with other researchers at Teacher’s College and the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, recently won a five-year National Institutes of Health R01 award (#1R01 HD101903-01) to conduct a randomized clinical trial.
The project—"Improving seated postural control and upper extremity function in bilateral CP with a robotic Trunk-Support-Trainer (TruST)"—will involve up to 80 children with poor trunk control. Some will use the TruST robotic rehabilitation while others will try conventional rehabilitation. This new NIH study will compare the efficacy of the motorized TruST to engage children in play-oriented practice while advancing their skill progression with static trunk support.
“Our new NIH project is a randomized clinical trial with a large sample size to study the efficacy of TruST-intervention as a unique therapeutic solution to promote seated functional abilities in children with bilateral CP,” Agrawal adds.
About the Study
Journal: IEEE Transactions of Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering
Title: Promoting Functional and Independent Sitting in Children with Cerebral Palsy Using the Robotic Trunk Support Trainer
Authors: Victor Santamaria, Moiz Khan, Tatiana Luna, Jiyeon Kang, Joseph Dutkowsky, Andrew Gordon, and Sunil Agrawal, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia Engineering.
The pilot study was partially funded by the Langer Foundation as administered by The Order of Malta.
COI: The authors declare no financial or other conflicts of interest.
Columbia Engineering
Columbia Engineering, based in New York City, is one of the top engineering schools in the U.S. and one of the oldest in the nation. Also known as The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School expands knowledge and advances technology through the pioneering research of its more than 220 faculty, while educating undergraduate and graduate students in a collaborative environment to become leaders informed by a firm foundation in engineering. The School’s faculty are at the center of the University’s cross-disciplinary research, contributing to the Data Science Institute, Earth Institute, Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Precision Medicine Initiative, and the Columbia Nano Initiative. Guided by its strategic vision, “Columbia Engineering for Humanity,” the School aims to translate ideas into innovations that foster a sustainable, healthy, secure, connected, and creative humanity.
Header image: Trunk Support Trainer (TruST).
ABOUT THE STUDY
Journal: IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology
Authors: Youngbin Kim, Kunlun Wang, Roberta I. Lock, Trevor R. Nash, Sharon Fleischer, Bryan Z. Wang, and Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia Engineering; and Barry M. Fine, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Columbia University Medical Center.
FUNDING: The work of Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic was supported by the National Institutes of Health under Grants P41 EB027062 and 5R01HL076485-15, in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant NSF1647837, and in part by National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Grant NNX16AO69A. The work of Barry M. Fine was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health under Grant R01HL166387 and in part by Abramova Foundation.
The authors declare no financial or other conflicts of interest.
Megan Heenan
Nandan Laxmikant Nerurkar