Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 7, 2026

Author Spotlight: Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Combined with Movement Observation in Cerebral Palsy
Published on: August 9, 2024
Spasticity in adults with cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis measured by objective clinically applicable technique
Tomofumi Yamaguchi1, Tue Hvass Petersen2, Henrik Kirk3
1Institute of Neuroscience, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark.
Objective:
The present study evaluated ankle stiffness in adults with and without neurological disorders and investigated the accuracy and reproducibility of a clinically applicable method using a dynamometer.
Methods:
Measurements were obtained from 8 healthy subjects (age 39.3), 9 subjects with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) (age 39.8) and 8 subjects with multiple sclerosis (MS) (age 49.9). Slow and fast dorsiflexion stretches of the ankle joint were performed to evaluate passive muscle-tendon-joint stiffness, reflex mediated stiffness and range of movement (ROM), respectively. Intra/inter-rater reliability for passive and reflex mediated ankle muscle stiffness was assessed for all groups.
Results:
Subjects with CP and MS showed significantly larger values of passive stiffness in the triceps surae muscle tendon complex and smaller ROM compared to healthy individuals, while no significant difference in reflex mediated stiffness. Measurements of passive muscle-tendon-joint stiffness and reflex mediated stiffness showed good to excellent inter- and intra-rater reliability (ICC: 0.62-0.91) in all groups.
Conclusion:
Increased stiffness was found in subjects with CP and MS with a clinically applicable method that provides valid and reproducible measurement of passive ankle muscle-tendon-joint stiffness and reflex mediated stiffness.
Significance:
The present technique may provide important supplementary information for the clinician.
Related Concept Videos
Clinical Applications of Epidermal Stem Cells
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Spinal Anesthesia
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Epidural Anesthesia
Since epidural anesthetics can be infused through an epidural catheter, all types of drugs, including short-acting ones, can be administered. Chloroprocaine and lidocaine are examples of short and long-duration anesthetics, respectively. Bupivacaine...
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Intravenous Regional Anesthesia
One of the advantages of...
Velocity of an Object
Adult Stem Cells

