Publications de Rubia van den Brand

A multidirectional gravity-assist algorithm that enhances locomotor control in patients with stroke or spinal cord injury

Auke Ijspeert, Grégoire Courtine, Selin Anil, Joachim von Zitzewitz, Rubia van den Brand, Marco Capogrosso, Jean-Baptiste Mignardot, Nicolas Francis Fumeaux, Jessica Lanini, Jocelyne Bloch

Gait recovery after neurological disorders requires remastering the interplay between body mechanics and gravitational forces. Despite the importance of gravity-dependent gait interactions and active participation for promoting this learning, these essenti ...

Amer Assoc Advancement Science2017

Spatiotemporal neuromodulation therapies engaging muscle synergies improve motor control after spinal cord injury

Léonie Asboth, Jérôme Gandar, Stéphanie Lacour, Arthur Edouard Hirsch, Silvestro Micera, Grégoire Courtine, Nikolaus Wenger, Ivan Rusev Minev, Rubia van den Brand, Quentin Barraud, Simone Ellen Joze Duis, Eduardo Martin Moraud, Pavel Musienko, Marco Capogrosso, Natalia Pavlova, Julie Kreider, Laetitia Danielle Philippine Baud, Andrea Mortera, Jocelyne Bloch

Electrical neuromodulation of lumbar segments improves motor control after spinal cord injury in animal models and humans. However, the physiological principles underlying the effect of this intervention remain poorly understood, which has limited the ther ...

Nature Publishing Group2016

Engagement of the Rat Hindlimb Motor Cortex across Natural Locomotor Behaviors

Silvestro Micera, Grégoire Courtine, Janine Beauparlant, Lucia Florinda Friedli Wittler, Rubia van den Brand, Simone Ellen Joze Duis, Julie Kreider, Jacopo Rigosa

Contrary to cats and primates, cortical contribution to hindlimb locomotor movements is not critical in rats. However, the importance of the motor cortex to regain locomotion after neurological disorders in rats suggests that cortical engagement in hindlim ...

Soc Neuroscience2016

Rehabilitative Soft Exoskeleton for Rodents

Sophie Marie Marthe Wurth, Silvestro Micera, Jamie Paik, Grégoire Courtine, Joachim von Zitzewitz, Rubia van den Brand, Eduardo Martin Moraud, Laetitia Danielle Philippine Baud, Juan Manuel Florez Marin, Manan Kishore Shah

Robotic exoskeletons provide programmable, consistent and controllable active therapeutic assistance to patients with neurological disorders. Here we introduce a prototype and preliminary experimental evaluation of a rehabilitative gait exoskeleton that en ...

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers2016

Decoding bipedal locomotion from the rat sensorimotor cortex

Silvestro Micera, Grégoire Courtine, Lucia Florinda Friedli Wittler, Rubia van den Brand, Jacopo Rigosa

Objective. Decoding forelimb movements from the firing activity of cortical neurons has been interfaced with robotic and prosthetic systems to replace lost upper limb functions in humans. Despite the potential of this approach to improve locomotion and fac ...

Institute of Physics2015

Neuroprosthetic technologies to augment the impact of neurorehabilitation after spinal cord injury

Silvestro Micera, Grégoire Courtine, Joachim von Zitzewitz, Rubia van den Brand, Eduardo Martin Moraud, Marco Capogrosso, Jean-Baptiste Mignardot, Nicolas Francis Fumeaux, Fabien Bertrand Paul Wagner, Jocelyne Bloch

Spinal cord injury leads to a range of disabilities, including limitations in locomotor activity, that seriously diminish the patients’ autonomy and quality of life. Electrochemical neuromodulation therapies, robot-assisted rehabilitation and willpower-bas ...

2015

Undirected compensatory plasticity contributes to neuronal dysfunction after severe spinal cord injury

Grégoire Courtine, Janine Beauparlant, Lucia Florinda Friedli Wittler, Rubia van den Brand, Quentin Barraud, Pavel Musienko

Severe spinal cord injury in humans leads to a progressive neuronal dysfunction in the chronic stage of the injury. This dysfunction is characterized by premature exhaustion of muscle activity during assisted locomotion, which is associated with the emerge ...

Oxford University Press2013

Multisystem Neuroprosthetic Training Improves Bladder Function After Severe Spinal Cord Injury

Daniel Eberli, Grégoire Courtine, Janine Beauparlant, Rubia van den Brand

Severe spinal cord injury leads to neurogenic bladder dysfunction. We recently developed a multisystem neuroprosthetic training program that promotes plastic changes capable of restoring refined locomotion in rats with severe spinal cord injury. We investi ...

Elsevier Science Inc2013

Soft Robot for Gait Rehabilitation of Spinalized Rodents

Silvestro Micera, Jamie Paik, Grégoire Courtine, Yi Sun, Joachim von Zitzewitz, Rubia van den Brand, Yun Seong Song

Soft actuators made of highly elastic polymers allow novel robotic system designs, yet application-specific soft robotic systems are rarely reported. Taking notice of the characteristics of soft pneumatic actuators (SPAs) such as high customizability and l ...

Ieee2013

Versatile robotic interface to evaluate, enable and train locomotion and balance after neuromotor disorders

Grégoire Courtine, Lucia Florinda Friedli Wittler, Rubia van den Brand, Pavel Musienko

Central nervous system (CNS) disorders distinctly impair locomotor pattern generation and balance, but technical limitations prevent independent assessment and rehabilitation of these subfunctions. Here we introduce a versatile robotic interface to evaluat ...

Nature Publishing Group2012

Restoring Voluntary Control of Locomotion after Paralyzing Spinal Cord Injury

Silvestro Micera, Grégoire Courtine, Lucia Florinda Friedli Wittler, Rubia van den Brand, Quentin Barraud, Kay Alexander Bartholdi, Simone Ellen Joze Duis, Eduardo Martin Moraud, Isabel Laura Vollenweider, Pavel Musienko

Half of human spinal cord injuries lead to chronic paralysis. Here, we introduce an electrochemical neuroprosthesis and a robotic postural interface designed to encourage supraspinally-mediated movements in rats with paralyzing lesions. Despite the interru ...

American Association for the Advancement of Science2012

Response to Comment on "Restoring Voluntary Control of Locomotion After Paralyzing Spinal Cord Injury"

Grégoire Courtine, Janine Beauparlant, Rubia van den Brand

Slawinska et al. questioned the involvement of supraspinal centers in restoring locomotion after multisystem neuroprosthetic training in rats with paralyzing spinal cord injury. Here, we clarify misconceptions and present additional results illustrating th ...

American Association for the Advancement of Science2012