About the STIMEX-SCI study
High-level spinal cord injury (SCI ≥T6) results in disturbances to autonomic cardiovascular function. During exercise, these individuals typically have a lower blood pressure, heart rate and stroke volume, among other cardiovascular outcomes, that ultimately limits exercise performance and overall physical capacity. Overtime, this can significantly increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (e.g., stroke or heart attack) to a greater extent than the general population.
Epidural spinal cord stimulation (involving implanted electrodes and a stimulator) has recently resolved low blood pressure and improved exercise performance in an individual with tetraplegia (Nightingale et al., 2019), yet this requires an invasive and expensive surgical procedure that is not routinely offered in the UK. Preliminary work from our research group has revealed improvements in cardiovascular control and exercise performance with non-invasive transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (TSCS) in a small group of individuals, but this needs to be explored further.
What is transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (TSCS)?
TSCS is a non-invasive form of electrical stimulation that is applied over the skin surface at specific levels of the spinal cord. The electrical stimulation is delivered using sticky electrodes that are plugged into a stimulator device (see image on the right). Using this device, we aim to activate the spinal circuitries by increasing the intensity of the stimulation until we observe a safe but beneficial elevation in blood pressure. We are calling this 'cardiovascular-optimised TSCS'.
Get involved
This project is formed of two parts: AIM 1 and AIM 2.
- AIM 1 lasts 3 weeks with a total time commitment of approx. 11.5 hours, split across 5 assessment visits.
- AIM 2 lasts 9 weeks plus a 6-week follow-up period with a total time commitment of approx. 34 hours. This consists of 16 exercise sessions (2 sessions per week for 8 weeks) and 6 assessment visits.
Participants can choose to take part in AIM 1 only if they do not want to take part in AIM 2.
What are the benefits of taking part?
- Participants are eligible to receive £40 per assessment visit and £200 for completing the exercise intervention.
- Completing all assessment visits and exercise intervention sessions will earn participants a total of £640.
Find out more details about taking part.