Knee Neuromuscular Assessment in Children With Cerebral Palsy

Reliability and Feasibility of Knee Traction Dynamometry and Electromyography Assessment in Children With Cerebral Palsy

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the reliability (intra-rater and inter-rater) of the K-Pull dynamometer and the K-Myo non-invasive electromyography sensor (assessing neuromuscular activity) in the evaluation of the lower limbs in children with cerebral palsy.

Specific objectives include:

• Examining differences in neuromuscular activity among children with CP classified at functional levels I to III on the GMFCS scale.
• Deriving conclusions from the correlation between electromyographic activity, muscle tone, and generated muscle strength.
• Assessing the applicability of neuromuscular activity assessment devices in clinical settings.

Inclusion Criteria:

• children with spastic type cerebral palsy (CP),
• aged between 5 and 16 years,
• classified at GMFCS levels I to III,
• voluntary motor control,
• ambulatory, with or without the use of mobility aids,
• can understand and execute verbal commands.

Exclusion Criteria:

• have previously undergone interventions that affect neuromuscular performance (such as surgery or botulinum toxin injections)
• have sustained an injury,
• demonstrate a low level of compliance.