Nerve stimulation and wearable sensors to improve walking after partial spinal cord injury
Official title: Neural Stimulation to Enhance Community Mobility after Incomplete SCI
Funded at Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center · NIH-11222695 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Using wearable sensors and targeted nerve stimulation to help Veterans with incomplete spinal cord injury walk faster and more steadily so they can participate in community activities.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Cleveland, United States) |
| Project start | January 1, 2024 |
| Project end | December 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| NIH project number | 5I01RX004246-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11222695 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are Veterans with incomplete spinal cord injury who retain some voluntary leg movement, have trouble walking in the community, and can attend repeated training visits and consider implanted or external stimulation.
✕Less likely to help
People with complete spinal cord injuries, no voluntary leg control, or medical contraindications to implanted or surface stimulation are unlikely to benefit from this project.
What this research studies
You would first do conventional gait training and then take part in sessions where you walk with and without a stimulation controller while wearing a small set of body-mounted sensors. The team will use those sensors to drive peripheral nerve stimulation that augments weakened muscles in real time, helping your natural movements push you forward and recover from slips or trips. Ten people with incomplete spinal cord injury will each serve as their own control in single-subject comparisons, and six participants will receive implanted stimulators combined with externally worn sensors. Results will guide development of easier-to-use surface or fully implanted systems that could be used outside the clinic.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could let Veterans with incomplete spinal cord injury walk more safely and independently in their communities.
How similar studies have gone: Functional electrical stimulation and neuromodulation have helped some people with incomplete SCI walk and balance better, but this project’s real-time adaptive controller approach is a newer application of those methods.
Where this research is happening
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Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center
Cleveland, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Triolo, Ronald J — Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Triolo, Ronald J
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.