Skin Resistance as a Physiological Indicator for Quadriplegics with Spinal Cord Injuries During Activities of Daily Living

摘要

Approximately 30-50 % of all persons with a spinal cord injury (SCI) are rehospitalized every year due to secondary health complications. One of the more common post-SCI health conditions is Autonomic Dysreflexia (AD). Key physiological indicators in the detection of AD are paroxysmal increase of blood pressure and sweating above the spinal cord injury level. In this paper we developed a system to measure galvanic skin resistance and use it to study the changes in skin perspiration and pulse in nine individuals with cervical SCIs while they were performing activities of daily living (ADL). A significantly lower skin resistance was detected above the injury site compared to areas below the injury site. As the subjects performed activities of different exertion levels, there was a significant decrease in the skin resistance above the injury site. Additionally, as anxiety levels increased during activities, skin resistance decreased. The application of skin resistance sensors has been shown to be a reliable detection method of naturally-occurring anomalous variations in the skin resistance among quadriplegics due to SCI in order to identify the onset of AD during typical ADL. A possible implication of this study is to provide long-term physiological monitoring of quadriplegics to alert them and their caregivers of the occurrence of AD.