Voxel-Mirrored Homotopic Connectivity of Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Blepharospasm

Objective: Several networks in human brain are involved in the development of blepharospasm. However, the underlying mechanisms for this disease are poorly understood. A voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) method was used to quantify the changes in functional connectivity between two hemispheres of the brain in patients with blepharospasm.Methods: Twenty-four patients with blepharospasm and 24 healthy controls matched by age, sex, and education were recruited. The VMHC method was employed to analyze the fMRI data. The support vector machine (SVM) method was utilized to examine whether these abnormalities could be applied to distinguish the patients from the controls.Results: Compared with healthy controls, patients with blepharospasm showed significantly high VMHC in the inferior temporal gyrus, interior frontal gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex, and postcentral gyrus. No significant correlation was found between abnormal VMHC values and clinical variables. SVM analysis showed a combination of increased VMHC values in two brain areas with high sensitivities and specificities (83.33 and 91.67% in the combined inferior frontal gyrus and posterior cingulate cortex; and 83.33 and 87.50% in the combined inferior temporal gyrus and postcentral gyrus).Conclusion: Enhanced homotopic coordination in the brain regions associated with sensory integration networks and default-mode network may be underlying the pathophysiology of blepharospasm. This phenomenon may serve as potential image markers to distinguish patients with blepharospasm from healthy controls

A wearable multimode system with soft sensors for lower limb activity evaluation and rehabilitation

A novel wearable multimode system for lower limb activity evaluation and rehabilitation comprised of a multifunctional band, plantar pressure distribution sensor and a local mobile terminal connected to a cloud platform is presented. This proposed system can acquire the necessary data for lower limb activity evaluation based on clinical practice. By using proposed system, the therapists can distribute the specific training plans based on the evaluation results through the system for the patients to rehabilitate more efficiently. Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) and physiological signal front ends with carbonized foam electrode are embedded in the proposed system to obtain motion signals and electromyogram (EMG) signal. Furthermore, a novel plantar pressure distribution sensor using flexible pressure sensors, flexible conductive lines and fabric materials is proposed to get the plantar pressure distribution. The carbonized foam electrode and proposed plantar pressure distribution sensor enable a more convenient evaluation and rehabilitation process. Patients can switch between two different wearing modes with EMG signal on and off. The user interfaces of training mode and evaluation mode are also presented together with the evaluation methods based on the clinical practice. Experiments were carried out to investigate the system performance, which demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed system. The proposed system shows a potential in home-based scenarios and clinical practice

A wearable multimode system with soft sensors for lower limb activity evaluation and rehabilitation

\u3cp\u3eA novel wearable multimode system for lower limb activity evaluation and rehabilitation comprised of a multifunctional band, plantar pressure distribution sensor and a local mobile terminal connected to a cloud platform is presented. This proposed system can acquire the necessary data for lower limb activity evaluation based on clinical practice. By using proposed system, the therapists can distribute the specific training plans based on the evaluation results through the system for the patients to rehabilitate more efficiently. Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) and physiological signal front ends with carbonized foam electrode are embedded in the proposed system to obtain motion signals and electromyogram (EMG) signal. Furthermore, a novel plantar pressure distribution sensor using flexible pressure sensors, flexible conductive lines and fabric materials is proposed to get the plantar pressure distribution. The carbonized foam electrode and proposed plantar pressure distribution sensor enable a more convenient evaluation and rehabilitation process. Patients can switch between two different wearing modes with EMG signal on and off. The user interfaces of training mode and evaluation mode are also presented together with the evaluation methods based on the clinical practice. Experiments were carried out to investigate the system performance, which demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed system. The proposed system shows a potential in home-based scenarios and clinical practice.\u3c/p\u3

Alterations of Interhemispheric Functional Connectivity and Degree Centrality in Cervical Dystonia: A Resting-State fMRI Study

Background. Cervical dystonia (CD) is a neurological movement disorder characterized by involuntary head and neck movements and postures. Reports on microstructural and functional abnormalities in multiple brain regions not limited to the basal ganglia have been increasing in patients with CD. However, the neural bases of CD are unclear. This study is aimed at identifying cerebral functional abnormalities in CD by using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Methods. Using rs-fMRI data, voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) and degree centrality were used to compare the alterations of the rs-functional connectivity (FC) between 19 patients with CD and 21 healthy controls. Regions showing abnormal FCs from two measurements were the regions of interest for correlation analyses. Results. Compared with healthy controls, patients with CD exhibited significantly decreased VMHC in the supplementary motor area (SMA), precuneus (PCu)/postcentral gyrus, and superior medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). Significantly increased degree centrality in the right PCu and decreased degree centrality in the right lentiform nucleus and left ventral MPFC were observed in the patient group compared with the control group. Further correlation analyses showed that the VMHC values in the SMA were negatively correlated with dystonia severity. Conclusion. Local abnormalities and interhemispheric interaction deficits in the sensorimotor network (SMA, postcentral gyrus, and PCu), default mode network (MPFC and PCu), and basal ganglia may be the key characteristics in the pathogenesis mechanism of CD

Voxel-Wise Brain-Wide Functional Connectivity Abnormalities in Patients with Primary Blepharospasm at Rest

Background. Primary blepharospasm (BSP) is one of the most common focal dystonia and its pathophysiological mechanism remains unclear. An unbiased method was used in patients with BSP at rest to observe voxel-wise brain-wide functional connectivity (FC) changes. Method. A total of 48 subjects, including 24 untreated patients with BSP and 24 healthy controls, were recruited to undergo functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The method of global-brain FC (GFC) was adopted to analyze the resting-state fMRI data. We designed the support vector machine (SVM) method to determine whether GFC abnormalities could be utilized to distinguish the patients from the controls. Results. Relative to healthy controls, patients with BSP showed significantly decreased GFC in the bilateral superior medial prefrontal cortex/anterior cingulate cortex (MPFC/ACC) and increased GFC in the right postcentral gyrus/precentral gyrus/paracentral lobule, right superior frontal gyrus (SFG), and left paracentral lobule/supplement motor area (SMA), which were included in the default mode network (DMN) and sensorimotor network. SVM analysis showed that increased GFC values in the right postcentral gyrus/precentral gyrus/paracentral lobule could discriminate patients from controls with optimal accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity of 83.33%, 83.33%, and 83.33%, respectively. Conclusion. This study suggested that abnormal GFC in the brain areas associated with sensorimotor network and DMN might underlie the pathophysiology of BSP, which provided a new perspective to understand BSP. GFC in the right postcentral gyrus/precentral gyrus/paracentral lobule might be utilized as a latent biomarker to differentiate patients with BSP from controls