APT Center Investigator Dr. Nathan Makowski Receives $3.9M Award from the Department of Defense!
Dr. Nathan Makowski, an Investigator at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center's (LSCVAMC) Advanced Platform Technology (APT) Center and staff scientist in MetroHealth’s PM&R department, received a $3.9M 4-year Award from the Department of Defense for his project entitled "Enhancing walking and independence after incomplete SCI with a fully implanted neuroprosthesis”. The overall goal of this project is to enable people with paralysis due to incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI) to stand and walk under their own power in home and community settings by evaluating the feasibility of a fully implanted stimulation system called the networked neuroprosthesis system (NNPS).
This system consists of a power module that coordinates activity across various stimulation modules with motion sensors that facilitate simulation to activate a user’s paralyzed muscles based on their movement. The NNPS configuration will be tailored to each implant recipient depending on the extent and level of their injury to enable their unaffected volitional movement to be integrated with electrical stimulation to activate their paralyzed muscles generating a smooth and natural standing posture and gait. Over the course of this project, Dr. Makowski and his team will implant the NNPS in a small cohort of iSCI patients, evaluate its impact on improving their walking abilities, and prepare for translation of the technology to other sites.
This study is the first real opportunity to enable standing and stepping at home and in the community using a fully implanted system without the inconvenience of any external equipment, allowing the recipient to utilize the stimulation in an on-demand fashion. This will identify if the technology enables users to become more active participants in their communities and facilitate healthy, productive, and socially engaged lifestyles which will ultimately improve overall health, societal participation, and quality of life while reducing reliance on family members and caregivers.
Congratulations to Dr. Makowski!
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Dr. Makowski’s dedicated team of Co-Investigators on the project include:
Ronald Triolo, PhD, Executive Director, APT Center, Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC; Senior Research Career Scientist, Department of Veterans Affairs; Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University; Program Director, T32 Training Program for Musculoskeletal Research
Gilles Pinault, MD, Co-Director, APT Center, Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC; Section Chief, Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC; Associate Professor of Surgery, Case Western Reserve University
Kevin Kilgore, PhD, PH Peckham PhD and GJ Picha MD PhD Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University; Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Case Western Reserve University; Staff Scientist, MetroHealth System
Musa Audu, PhD, APT Center Investigator, Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC; Research Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University
James Wilson, DO, Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Case Western Reserve University; Director of Spinal Cord Injury Medicine, MetroHealth System
Kyle Chepla, MD, Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery, Case Western Reserve University; Co-Director of Hand and Upper Extremity Center, MetroHealth System; Staff member of Division of Plastic Surgery, Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC; Staff member, Cleveland Combined Hand and Upper Extremity Fellowship
Megan Moynahan, MS, Executive Director, Institute for Functional Restoration, Case Western Reserve University
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