The research team is currently establishing protocols for evaluation of patients with severe impairments of consciousness using multimodal evoked potentials and transcranial magnetic stimulation techniques. Protocols for neurophysiological evaluation of interventions for spasticity and related motor disorders are also being developed. Studies in event-related cortical potentials are part of the Traumatic Brain Injury Model System grant recently awarded to Methodist Rehab. The Motion Analysis and Human Performance Laboratory is uniquely equipped and capable of precise kinetic and kinematic analysis of any kind of human motion, including gait. While most patients seen to date have been referred for analysis of their gait, other functional movement tasks, such as the transfer from sitting to standing, initiation of gait from standing, stair climbing, as well as reaching and grasping, will also be evaluated.
Specific instrumentation used in the lab includes a computer-driven video motion capture system.
The video system provides joint angle or kinematic information based on the output from six high speed, high-resolution CCD cameras, which provide measurement of the motion of a patient's limbs with 2mm precision. A network of five strain-gage based, floor mounted force measuring platforms are used in conjunction with the video system to provide estimates of joint forces or kinetic information. These tools provide the referring physician with accurate information that would normally not be available from the conventional clinical examinations, thereby providing a sensitive method to assess patient's functional performance throughout the course of recovery as well as for evaluating the effectiveness of various interventions. Research Professionals Dobrivoje S. Stokic , Director of the Neurophysiology Research Laboratories, earned his M.D. degree and completed a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Belgrade School of Medicine in Yugoslavia. Prior to his appointment at Methodist Rehab, Dr. Stokic was Postdoctoral Fellow and then Research Associate at the Division of Restorative Neurology and Human Neurobiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.