# Neuromodulatory rehabilitation for respiratory motor function in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE · 2024 · $368,666

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Respiratory motor control deficit is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with spinal cord
injury. The long-term goal of this research is to develop a rehabilitation strategy for respiration in patients with
spinal cord injury as a standard of care. Our previous findings demonstrate that respiratory function in patients
with chronic spinal cord injury can be improved by using our original inspiratory-expiratory pressure threshold
respiratory training protocol. However, the effectiveness of this intervention is limited to the amount of
functional capacity preserved below the neurological level of injury. Our preliminary data obtained for this
proposal demonstrate that electrical spinal cord stimulation applied non-invasively to target spinal respiratory
circuits in combination with respiratory training can activate and re-organize spinal motor networks for
respiration. We propose to investigate respiratory motor control-related responses to transcutaneous spinal
cord stimulation alone and in combination with respiratory training. By characterization of respiratory muscle
activation patterns using surface electromyography in association with pulmonary functional and related
cardiovascular measures, we expect to determine specific stimulation parameters needed to increase spinal
excitability below level of injury to enhance responses to the input from supraspinal centers that remain after
injury and to promote the neural plasticity driven by the respiratory training. This hypothesis will be tested by
pursuing two Specific Aims: 1) Evaluate the acute effects of transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation on
respiratory functional and motor control properties; and 2) Evaluate the effectiveness of transcutaneous spinal
cord stimulation combined with respiratory training.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10824301
- **Project number:** 5R01HL168294-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE
- **Principal Investigator:** Alexander Vladimirovich Ovechkin
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $368,666
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-04-10 → 2028-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10824301

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10824301, Neuromodulatory rehabilitation for respiratory motor function in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (5R01HL168294-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10824301. Licensed CC0.

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