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.

Research Programs

  • Integrated Engineering and Rehabilitation Training
  • National Institutes of Health

Publications (Select)

Entire publication list can be found here.

  • Makowski NS, Knutson JS, Chae J, Crago PE. Control of robotic assistance using poststroke residual voluntary effort. IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2015 Mar;23(2):221–231. doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2014.2364273 Pubmed PMID: 25373107
  • Crago PE, Makowski NS. Alteration of neural action potential patterns by axonal stimulation: the importance of stimulus location. J Neural Eng. 2014 Oct;11(5):056016. doi: 10.1088/1741-2560/11/5/056016 Pubmed PMID: 25161163
  • Crago PE, Makowski NS, Cole NM. Contributions to muscle force and EMG by combined neural excitation and electrical stimulation. J Neural Eng. 2014 Oct;11(5):056022. doi: 10.1088/1741-2560/11/5/056022 Pubmed PMID: 25242203
  • Makowski NS, Knutson JS, Chae J, Crago PE. Functional electrical stimulation to augment poststroke reach and hand opening in the presence of voluntary effort: a pilot study. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2014 Apr;28(3):241–249. doi: 10.1177/1545968313505913 Pubmed PMID: 24270058
  • Makowski N, Knutson J, Chae J, Crago P. Interaction of poststroke voluntary effort and functional neuromuscular electrical stimulation. J Rehabil Res Dev. 2013;50(1):85–98. Pubmed PMID: 23516086
  • Makowski NS, Knutson JS, Chae J, Crago P. Variations in neuromuscular electrical stimulation’s ability to increase reach and hand opening during voluntary effort after stroke. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2012;2012:318–321. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2012.6345933 Pubmed PMID: 23365894
  • Crago PE, Makowski NS. Muscle response to simultaneous stimulated and physiological action potential trains–a simulation study. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2012;2012:1839–1842. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2012.6346309 Pubmed PMID: 23366270
  • Lujan JL, Crago PE. Automated optimal coordination of multiple-DOF neuromuscular actions in feedforward neuroprostheses. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2009 Jan;56(1):179–187. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2008.2002159 Pubmed PMID: 19224731

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Investigator
Cleveland FES Center

Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Case School of Engineering
Case Western Reserve University

CONTACT INFORMATION

Program Contact
Patrick Crago

Contact Number
(216) 368-3977

Contact Email
patrick.crago@case.edu