Browsing by Author "Mitrović, Sindi (55798151300)"

Introduction. Patients with a fluent type of aphasia have semantically poor discourse, which is often uninformative for the interlocutor, having consequences for their daily life. One of the treatment methods used in clinical practice is the semantic feature analysis (SFA). The aim of this study was to determine the impact of this treatment method on the content of discourse in patients with fluent aphasia. Methods. The sample consisted of 30 subjects with fluent aphasia, namely: Wernicke's aphasia (9 subjects), conductive aphasia (6 subjects), transcortical sensory aphasia (8 subjects), and anomic aphasia (7 subjects). To assess the formation of narrative discourse, the picture subtest "Cake theft" from the Boston diagnostic test for aphasia was used. The content of the discourse was assessed by two experienced speech therapists - aphasiologists. Results. After the treatment using the semantic feature analysis, an increase in the number of content words was observed in all patients (H = 22.53, df = 3, p < .001; H = 23.42, df = 3, p < .001; H = 23.10, df = 3, p < .001). Patients with Wernicke's and transcortical sensory aphasia had most impairment in the content/informativeness of discourse. Uninformative discourse was observed in 5 (33.33%) patients with Wernicke's and 4 (26.67%) patients with transcortical sensory aphasia. The type and severity of aphasia were shown to affect the informativeness of discourse. Conclusion. The semantic feature analysis treatment method leads to a significant improvement of narrative discourse in patients with milder forms of aphasia, such as anomic and conductive aphasia. © 2024 University of Nis, Faculty of Medicine. All rights reserved.

We designed a new surface multi-pad electrode for the electrical stimulation of the forearm that is effective in controlling functional grasp in hemiplegic patients. The electrode shape and size were designed on the basis of the surface stimulation map of the forearm, determined from measurements in seven hemiplegic patients who had limited or absent voluntary movements of the fingers, thumb and wrist. The stimulation map for each patient was assessed with a conventional set of single pad Pals Platinum electrodes. Since the sites for the stimulation varied greatly between patients, the end result was a rather large multi-pad electrode. Modulating multi-pad electrode size, shape, position and individual pad stimulation parameters allows us to accommodate the diversity of the neural tissues in patients that need to be activated for functional grasp. This also allows asynchronous activation of different portions of the muscle and dynamic adaptation of the stimulation sites to appropriate underlying tissues during functional use. The validity of the determined stimulation map was tested in the same group of hemiplegic patients. The selected set of active pads resulted in fully functional and reproducible palmar and lateral grasps similar to healthy-like grasps. © 2001-2011 IEEE.

We designed a new surface multi-pad electrode for the electrical stimulation of the forearm that is effective in controlling functional grasp in hemiplegic patients. The electrode shape and size were designed on the basis of the surface stimulation map of the forearm, determined from measurements in seven hemiplegic patients who had limited or absent voluntary movements of the fingers, thumb and wrist. The stimulation map for each patient was assessed with a conventional set of single pad Pals Platinum electrodes. Since the sites for the stimulation varied greatly between patients, the end result was a rather large multi-pad electrode. Modulating multi-pad electrode size, shape, position and individual pad stimulation parameters allows us to accommodate the diversity of the neural tissues in patients that need to be activated for functional grasp. This also allows asynchronous activation of different portions of the muscle and dynamic adaptation of the stimulation sites to appropriate underlying tissues during functional use. The validity of the determined stimulation map was tested in the same group of hemiplegic patients. The selected set of active pads resulted in fully functional and reproducible palmar and lateral grasps similar to healthy-like grasps. © 2001-2011 IEEE.