Cycling With Electrical Stimulation and Blood Flow Restriction After Spinal Cord Injury
Tests the safety of stimulated cycling with limb cuffs in adults with spinal cord injury.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: FES Cycling With BFR in the Spinal Cord Injury Population
Key facts
- Where
- Toronto, CanadaSee the site
- Phase
- Phase 1
Could this be for you?
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 18 and 75 years old?
Source: NCT07588503, who can take part
Where in Canada
- Lyndhurst CentreToronto, CanadaTaking people
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Trial details
- Who runs it
- Dr. B. Catharine. Craven
- Trial code
- NCT07588503
- Record updated
- 14 May 2026
- Original description
Cardiometabolic Disease (CMD) is the silent killer within the spinal cord injury/disease (SCI/D) population. Many SCI/D patients' initial CMD presentation is with a heart attack, stroke, or sudden cardiac death, highlighting the need for interventions to reduce CMD risk. CMD contributes to 46% of deaths, with 30-50% of the SCI/D population living with undiagnosed CMD. Treating CMD risk is more challenging in the SCI/D population due to prolonged inactivity, inability to exercise, and excessive caloric intake to expenditure ratio. Identifying accessible and inclusive strategies to combat CMD risk in the SCI/D population is a compelling and urgent health priority.Read full original descriptionShow less
Assessing the Safety and Feasibility of Functional Electrical Stimulation Cycling Coupled With Blood Flow Restriction in a Spinal Cord Injury Population
Cardiometabolic Disease (CMD) is the silent killer within the spinal cord injury/disease (SCI/D) population. Many SCI/D patients' initial CMD presentation is with a heart attack, stroke, or sudden cardiac death, highlighting the need for interventions to reduce CMD risk. CMD contributes to 46% of deaths, with 30-50% of the SCI/D population living with undiagnosed CMD. Treating CMD risk is more challenging in the SCI/D population due to prolonged inactivity, inability to exercise, and excessive caloric intake to expenditure ratio. Identifying accessible and inclusive strategies to combat CMD risk in the SCI/D population is a compelling and urgent health priority.
Blood flow restriction (BFR) exercise involves applying inflatable cuffs to the proximal end of an individual's limbs. Changes to the amount of blood flowing into and out of the limb lead to a low oxygen environment within the limb, shifting the way the muscles can produce the energy required to function, increasing the benefits of low- and moderate-intensity exercise. Coupling BFR with Functional electrical stimulation cycling (FES-cycling), a commonly used rehabilitation tool within the SCI population, could improve FES-cycling's short- and long-term benefits without reducing the accessibility and inclusiveness of long-term exercise prescription. Although preliminary BFR research in the SCI/D has identified positive muscular improvements, whether FES-cycling coupled with BFR can be safely prescribed or feasibly implemented long-term within the SCI/D population is unknown.
The proposed project aims to determine the safety and feasibility of FES-cycling coupled with BFR for 20 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise among adults with chronic spinal cord injury/disease (SCI/D). The research team aims to implement pre-test, eight exercise sessions, and post-test across 6-weeks. Criteria for success include no adverse or severe adverse events not alleviated by ceasing exercise (safety), a 1 to 8 ratio of participants screened to participants eligible (recruitment success), and participants successfully completing all exercise sessions (participant retention).
Inclusion: Adult (≥ 18 to ≤ 75yrs); Male or female; Chronic Injury (>1yr); Diagnosis of SCI at levels between C5 to T10 (AIS A-D) with traumatic or non-traumatic etiology; ≥3 Cardiometabolic risk parameters.
Exclusion: A prior or current history of venous thromboembolism; Current use of an anticoagulant medication; Frequent episodes of autonomic dysreflexia unresponsive to therapy (e.g., 3-5 times a week); Severe active concurrent medical conditions (e.g., skin or respiratory infections, lung, pressure sores); Any history of embolic stroke; Myocardial infarction; Current untreated hypertension; Language, psychiatric, cognitive, or communicative disability (e.g., traumatic brain injury) that compromises the participant's autonomy to voluntarily join the study, follow its instructions and/or operate the device; Current alcohol or street drug use disorder; Unresolved deep vein thromboembolism (VTE) in the past six months; Pressure injury of the pelvis, mid to upper thigh region, or foot; Managing a lower limb fracture; Severe spasticity preventing the necessary range of motion for cycling; Active implantable medical device (e.g., pacemaker, ITB pump); Inability to provide informed consent; Unstable spine or unhealed limbs or pelvic fractures; Active heterotopic ossification interfering with the lower extremity range of motion.