Crago, Patrick, Ph.D.

Research Statement

My major research interests are in the area of movement control and regulation of posture, particularly the restoration of movement by neuroprostheses employing neuromuscular stimulation. This research emphasizes the role of feedback, muscle mechanical properties of the limbs in the execution and regulation of movements. Current research projects include the control of wrist flexion/extension and elbow extension in patients with spinal cord injuries. Other projects involve the clinical implementation and evaluation of closed-loop stiffness regulation for hand grasp, and the development of muscle models suitable for use in the stimulations with neuronal models.

Professional Affiliations

• Investigator, Cleveland FES Center
• Associate Dean, Case School of Engineering, and Allen H. and Constance T. Ford Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
  
• Bioscientific Staff, Department of Orthopaedics, MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, OH
  

Publications (Select)

• Lujan JL, Crago PE. Automated optimal coordination of multiple-DOF neuromuscular actions in feedforward neuroprostheses. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2009 Jan;56(1):179-87. PubMed PMID: 19224731; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2646185.
• Giuffrida JP, Crago PE. Utilizing remaining voluntary muscle synergies to control FES elbow extension after spinal cord injury. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2004;6:4118-21. PubMed PMID: 17271207.
• Giuffrida JP, Crago PE. Functional restoration of elbow extension after spinal-cord injury using a neural network-based synergistic FES controller. IEEE  Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2005 Jun;13(2):147-52. PubMed PMID: 16003892.
• Swift MJ, Crago PE, Grill WM. Applied electric fields accelerate the diffusion rate and increase the diffusion distance of DiI in fixed tissue. J Neurosci Methods. 2005 Jan 30;141(1):155-63. PubMed PMID: 15585299.
• Luján JL, Crago PE. Computer-based test-bed for clinical assessment of hand/wrist feed-forward neuroprosthetic controllers using artificial neural networks. Med Biol Eng Comput. 2004 Nov;42(6):754-61. PubMed PMID: 15587466.
• Sutton GP, Mangan EV, Neustadter DM, Beer RD, Crago PE, Chiel HJ. Neural control exploits changing mechanical advantage and context dependence to generate different feeding responses in Aplysia. Biol Cybern. 2004 Nov;91(5):333-45. Epub  2004 Oct 27. PubMed PMID: 15517341.

Research Programs

• Integrated Engineering and Rehabilitation Training
• National Institutes of Health
  

Contact Information