My primary research interest is determining the contributions of post-stroke impairments to function and developing interventions for motor restoration after stroke.

The present focus is on functional electrical stimulation (FES) to assist with gait.

Areas of Interest

  • Implanted FES systems for gait restoration after stroke.
  • Determining the mechanisms that contribute to gait deficits and developing combinatorial interventions to address the different impairments.

Publications (Select)

Entire publication list can be found here.

  • Makowski NS, Kobetic R, Lombardo LM, Foglyano KM, Pinault G, Selkirk SM, Triolo RJ. Improving Walking with an Implanted Neuroprosthesis for Hip, Knee, and Ankle Control After Stroke. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2016 Dec;95(12):880-888. PubMed PMID: 27231842; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5115927.
  • Foglyano KM, Schnellenberger JR, Kobetic R, Lombardo L, Pinault G, Selkirk S, Makowski NS, Triolo RJ. Accelerometer-based step initiation control for gait-assist neuroprostheses. J Rehabil Res Dev. 2016;53(6):919-932. doi: 10.1682/JRRD.2015.09.0188. PubMed PMID: 28475203.
  • Makowski N, Knutson J, Chae J, Crago P. Control of Robotic Assistance Using Poststroke Residual Voluntary Effort. IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2014 Oct 31. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 25373107.
  • 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. Epub 2014 Sep 22. PubMed PMID: 25242203; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4238908.
  • 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. Epub 2014 Aug 27. PubMed PMID: 25161163; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4238903.
  • Knutson JS, Harley MY, Hisel TZ, Makowski NS, Chae J. Contralaterally controlled functional electrical stimulation for recovery of elbow extension and hand opening after stroke: a pilot case series study. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2014 Jun;93(6):528-39. doi: 10.1097/PHM.0000000000000066. PubMed PMID: 24508938; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4029922.
  • 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 Mar-Apr;28(3):241-9. doi: 10.1177/1545968313505913. Epub 2013 Nov 22. PubMed PMID: 24270058; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4128408.
  • 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; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3605753.
  • 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;2012:1839-42. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2012.6346309. PubMed PMID: 23366270; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4229042.
  • 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;2012:318-21. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2012.6345933. PubMed PMID: 23365894; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3561721.
  • Knutson JS, Harley MY, Hisel TZ, Makowski NS, Fu MJ, Chae J.Contralaterally controlled functional electrical stimulation for stroke rehabilitation. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2012;2012:314-7. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2012.6345932. Review. PubMed PMID: 23365893; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3561720.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Investigator
Cleveland FES Center

Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
MetroHealth Medical Center

Research Scientist
Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center

CONTACT INFORMATION

Program Contact
Nathan Makowski

Contact Number
(216) 791-3800 x 3135

Contact Email
nmakowski@fescenter.org