Motor control investigation of dystonic cerebral palsy: A pilot study of passive knee trajectory.

The purpose of this study is to better understand dystonia in CP and be able to objectively distinguish between individuals who experience spasticity, dystonia, or a combination of these conditions while evaluating the effect of 2Hz vestibular stimulation. Selected outcome measures included knee ROM, angular velocity and acceleration and all measures increased post vestibular stimulation; these results are indications of a possible reduction in the level of disability. The current investigation also identified an unexpected and unique behavior of the knee in children with dystonic cerebral palsy (CP) that was noticed while administering the Pendulum Knee Drop test (PKD) at approximately 0.

Estimation of intrinsic joint impedance using quasi-static passive and dynamic methods in individuals with and without Cerebral Palsy.

Modeling the passive behavior of the knee in subjects with spasticity involves the applied external torques (e.g. gravitational torque), the intrinsic moments due to tissue properties, as well as active, neurally defined moments resulting from the hypersensitivity of reflexes introduced by disability.