Phrenic nerve stimulation is a technique whereby a nerve stimulator provides electrical stimulation of the phrenic nerve to cause diaphragmatic contraction. The most common indications for this procedure are central alveolar hypoventilation and high quadriplegia. This paper reviews the available data on the 19 patients treated with phrenic nerve stimulation in Australia to date. Of the 19 patie...

PURPOSE To assess functional activities of the upper extremity of young adults with cerebral palsy (CP) and to determine their relations with participant characteristics and participation. METHOD Assessment of functional activities of the upper extremity was performed on 103 participants (aged 16-20 years) with the Melbourne assessment and the Abilhand Questionnaire. Participation was measure...

The goal of this study was to assess the relation between gender, age, motor type, topography and gross motor function, based on the Gross Motor Function System of children with cerebral palsy. Trunk control, postural changes and gait of one hundred children between 5 months and 12 years old, were evaluated. There were no significant differences between gender and age groups (p=0.887) or betwee...

Parents generally have the right to make medical decisions for their children. This right can be challenged when the parents’ decision seems to go against the child’s interests. The toughest such decisions are for a child who will survive with physical and neurocognitive impairments. We discuss a case of a 5-year-old boy who suffered a spinal injury as a result of a motor vehicle accident and w...

We present a strategy for mapping and parameterizing expressive gesture for music control with an infrared headmounted controller. The system allows performers to rely on movement that they find natural despite no prior experience with expressive music performance. It additionally empowers users to identify and contextualize their control parameterization within the key events of a single compo...