The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	A computational model of spasticity based on a decoupling of the alpha and gamma efferents
Author:	Mantilla, Bruno A.
View Online:	njit-etd2002-035 (xv, 119 pages ~ 4.5 MB pdf)
Department:	Biomedical Engineering Committee
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Biomedical Engineering
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Foulds, Richard A. (Committee chair) Kristol, David S. (Committee member) Alvarez, Tara L. (Committee member)
Date:	2002-05
Keywords:	Spasticity Stretch reflex
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	It is generally accepted that spasticity results from changes in the excitability of the stretch reflex. This change lowers the threshold of the motoneurons of the spinal cord where the integration of a signal from velocity/position sensors is processed and then fed back to the contracting muscle (alphaextrafusal and gamma-intrafusal fibers). The stretch reflex depends on the initial length of the muscle, the stretch velocity and voluntary activity. The exact sequence of the triggering events remains unknown, is poorly understood and as a result is controversial. The clinical classification scales are mainly subjective and by definition, inaccurate. This computational model of spasticity is based on the concept of the existence of a normal neuromuscular control coupling function, which ordinarily encloses the extrafusal and intrafusal fibers, and explains the spasticity as a result of the uncoupling of this normal mechanism. The model involves mechanical parameters and basic neuromuscular control theory.