Centre for Rehabilitation Engineering

The Centre for Rehabilitation Engineering (CRE) at the University of Glasgow works on fundamental and applied research in the application of engineering technologies within spinal cord injury medicine.  The CRE has premier engineering expertise which links closely to clinical needs via long-standing research partnership with the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit.  Through partnership with Hasomed GmbH and Anatomical Concepts Ltd, the CRE has succeeded in bringing novel clinical products to market, including the RehaBike, a recumbent tricycle system which allows people with paraplegia to cycle using functional electrical stimulation (FES) of the paralysed leg muscles (see www.fescycling.com).

Areas of research in the CRE include lower-limb paraplegic cycling, active treadmill therapy using partial body-weight support and robotics assistance, control of balance during standing, abdominal stimulation for cough and respiratory function, FES-assisted arm-cranking in tetraplegia, brain-computer interfaces for neuroprostheses, and modelling of stimulated muscle.  The research carefully examines the effect of technology-enabled interventions on health-related outcomes such as bone integrity and cardiopulmonary fitness.  These aspects are studied using state-of-the-art techniques including peripheral quantitative computed tomography (PQCT) and breath-by-breath cardiorespiratory monitoring.

News

The new Scottish Centre for Innovation in Spinal Cord Injury has been inaugurated - please see www.scisci.org.uk

This launch coincides with completion of a new research facility within the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit.

The work of the CRE and partners was highlighted recently in a video film distributed in the UK to all members of Spinal Injuries Scotland and the Spinal Injuries Association.

Sir Michael Atiyah, President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, congratulates Professor Ken Hunt on his election to the Fellowship.

Henrik Gollee, Ken Hunt and Peter Gawthrop have been awarded a new EPSRC grant  on "Intermittent predictive control of man and machine."  The project is a collaboration with Manchester metropolitan and Birmingham Universities.

Public lecture by Professor Ken Hunt on Thursday 12 June 2008 at 7 pm:

Engineering Human Functioning, Performance and Health Following Spinal Cord Injury

Glasgow Western Infirmary Lecture Theatre, free, all welcome.