Galileo Research Fact Sheet #134: Can Galileo Therapy in Ataxia patients improve blood-flow and muscle activation?

This study investigated the immediate effects of Galileo Therapy using the Galileo Delta tilt-table on blood-flow and muscle activation (EMG) in patients with Friedrich's Ataxia. The study was set-up as a randomized cross-over study investigating the influences of frequency (10Hz, 20Hz, 30Hz) and duration (3*1 minute with 1 minute rest in-between vs. 1*3 minutes) (45° tilt angle, 60° knee flexion, position 2.5).

As in other Galileo studies for example in spinal cord injury (#GRFS116, #GRFS63) this study shows also an increase of blood-flow with increasing frequency. While the EMG amplitude was increasing with frequency for healthy subjects standing on a Galileo device (#GRFS3), this study only showed a frequency dependency in EMG frequency (the observed decrease in EMG frequency is usually linked to stronger exhaustion or to more intense exercise which activates larger motoric units. (but a reason for the lack of increase observed EMG amplitude might have been the used analysis approach #GRFS101, #GRFS95 which is missing out a major frequency spectrum of the signal).

The observed effects where larger for a longer application (3 minutes) compared to 3 short sets (3*1 minute). Considering the effects of Galileo Delta tilt-table therapy on cortical activity in chronic stroke patients as reported by #GRFS67, therapy on the Galileo Delta offers a very versatile application especially for neuro-muscular conditions. 

Therapy - Friedrich's Ataxia   
#GRFS134 #GRFS