Blog
23 June 2022

Elsass Foundation: Supporting cerebral palsy patients through EMG innovation

Key Takeaways

1

Cerebral Palsy is caused by brain damage during pregnancy or shortly after birth. The condition affects posture, gait, muscle tone and coordination of movement.

2

EMG technology has been especially useful in clinical gait analysis as the data shows timing and intensity of muscle activity that might be lacking or delayed in children with Cerebral Palsy.

3

Current projects involving EMG include working on early detection for children with Cerebral Palsy, the study of nutrition and physical activity for adults with Cerebral Palsy, and sensory stimuli and motor development studies.

In Denmark, between 110-130 children are diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP) each year. According to Larsen et al¹, there is a decline in the prevalence of cerebral palsy in children born at term in Denmark.

Helene Elsass created a foundation in 1975 that would support people with CP and other persons with physical disabilities. Today, the Elsass Foundation works towards bringing together people with CP, their families and researchers.

The Foundation is based in Charlottenlund, Denmark, but its reach and support can be seen locally and internationally. An example of this can be seen within The Elsass Foundation Research Prize and its commitment to bettering the advancement of science within the field of cerebral palsy through philanthropic recognition of research excellence.

Within clinical gait analysis (CGA), the use of electromyography (EMG) follows specific procedures as recommended by SENIAM. When it comes to analysing the gait of children with CP, the use of EMG detection has become an important tool as it offers essential information about muscular activity. The data from EMG technologies show the timing and intensity of muscle activity be it lacking, delayed or permanent activity. The example data, from a clinical report, shows the EMG data for bilateral spastic cerebral palsy².

¹Mads L. Larsen, Gija Rackauskaite, Gorm Greisen, Bjarne Laursen, Peter Uldall, Lone Krebs, Christina E. Hoei-Hansen. Declining prevalence of cerebral palsy in children born at term in Denmark Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology (DMCN), 64(6), June 2022, 715-722

Declining prevalence of cerebral palsy in children born at term in Denmark | Larsen | DMCN

²Stéphane Armand, Geraldo Decoulon, Alice Bonnefoy-Mazure. Gait analysis in children with cerebral palsy EFORT Open Rev, 2016; 1, 488-460

Main Areas

The work being done by the Foundation can be broken down into three main areas:

Grants – providing financial support to CP related projects.

Research and Development – working with the University of Copenhagen on research and development relating to cerebral palsy. It is within this department that the Elsass Foundation has been using multiple Delsys EMG systems.

Practice and Activities – Physiotherapists, occupational therapists, physical education specialists and psychologists transform research into practical activities and interventions.

Current Projects

The Foundation is currently running three projects implementing EMG.

Detection via biomarkers – This project aims to identify biomarkers that can be used to detect infants that may have cerebral palsy as early as 3-4 months of age.

Nutrition and physical activity – The project aims to generate new knowledge about the significance of nutrition and physical activity for adults with severe CP.

Sensory stimuli and motor development

What is Cerebral Palsy?

CP is a permanent life-long physical disability that affects movement and posture but generally does not worsen over time. CP can cause problems with posture, gait, muscle tone and coordination of movement. CP is caused by abnormal development or damage to the brain during pregnancy or shortly after birth.

We can characterize CP based on the location of the brain injury and the types of CP diagnosed by type of brain injury, and movement disorder.

Monoplegia

One limb is affected. This is the least common type of cerebral palsy.

Diplegia

Two limbs are affected. Diplegia typically refers to someone whose legs are most involved, the arms may also be affected

Hemiplegia

This may also be referred to as unilateral cerebral palsy affecting half of the limbs. Often, the arm is more affected than the leg.

Triplegia

Three limbs are affected usually, both legs and one arm are affected.

Quadriplegia

All four limbs are affected.

Double hemiplegia

All four limbs are involved, but one side of the body is more affected than the other.

For more information on ways in which EMG technology can help within the rehabilitation of cerebral palsy and other gait related measures, please reach out to our team at contact@delsyseurope.com