A Revolutionary Step Towards the Prevention of Pressure Ulcer: from Bench to Bedside

• Clinical implementation and feasibility of electromyographic contraction monitoring of intermittent electrical stimulation system for prevention of deep tissue injury

• Author / Creator

  Ahmetovic, Alisa

• Deep tissue injury (DTI) is particularly serious subtype of pressure ulcer that first starts in the muscle layers over bony prominences as a result of unrelieved loading. Intermittent electrical stimulation (IES) induced muscle contractions have shown potential for prevention of DTI through contraction induced pressure shift and tissue perfusion. As part of this thesis, we have conducted a clinical safety and feasibility study of the IES system showing that it is generally safe, feasible and acceptable in long term care and rehabilitation hospital settings. Furthermore, I demonstrated that prolonged IES did not cause muscle fatigue and that a linear relationship exists between peak twitch tension and peak to peak M-wave amplitude in neurologically intact and subjects with spinal cord injury. This thesis helps to lay the foundation for future effectiveness study and development of an intelligent stimulator incorporating non-invasive electromyography feedback in an adaptable IES system.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Intermittent electrical stimulation
  • Pressure ulcer
  • EMG force relationship
  • Clinical implementation
  • Fatigue
  • Electromyographic contraction monitoring
  • Safety acceptability feasibility study
  • Deep tissue injury

• Graduation date

  Fall 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3M40T

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.