Disturbances in neural control of movement

Lab Description

The long-term objective of our line of research is to unravel the pathophysiological mechanisms that underly various movement disorders. In the past one of the goals was to validate the Cervico Ocular Reflex (COR) as a possible tool for evaluating multiple (minor) trauma to the cervical spine. The COR is the eye response evoked by passive neck rotation in the absence of visual or vestibular stimulation. The long term objective of this line of research is to know whether the COR can be a tool in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of multiple cervical spine lesions.

Anatomy

(1) LISA - At the moment the focus of this
group is mainly on Surgical Anatomy. In cooperation with the dept. of Surgery
and the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering (Technical University Delft)
research in the field of (endoscopic) surgery is performed. The three staff
members of this group (Kleinrensink, Stoeckart and Lange) are also involved in
the Lowlands Institute of Surgical and applied Anatomy (LISA- Rotterdam). In
this institute education and research in the field of gross anatomy related to
surgery is initiated and performed. Research projects are: vascularisation of
abdominal organs, wound repair in general, but mostly related to abdominal wall
defects and healing of colorectal anastomoses in colorectal surgery.
Furthermore  (in cooperation with the faculty
of Industrial Design TU Delft) surgical instruments and devices are developed,
based on (functional) anatomical aspects.

(2) The REPAIR-group
(Rotterdam Erasmus Project on Abdominal Innovative surgical Research) - Groupleaders are prof. Hans
Jeekel, prof. Johan Lange and prof. Gert-Jan Kleinrensink. Currently,  4-6 MD’s (as PhD students) are performing a
total of about 25 research projects on almost all aspects of 1) the field of
abdominal wall closure surgery and 2) the prevention of colorectal anastomotic
leakage. This research ranges from basic materials science (research on tissue
glue in cooperation with the TU Delft) to clinical trials on nerve identifying
aspects of inguinal hernia repair.

Furthermore, the subdept. of
Neuroscience-Anatomy is connected to the ErasmusMC (surgical)SkillsLab of which
prof. Kleinrensink is the program director. In the ErasmusMC SkillsLab
(Skillslab.nl) wet lab training is offered for all surgical specialties ranging
from general surgery to neuro surgery and from plastic surgery to orthopaedic
surgery. The dissection room of the Anatomy dept. forms an integral part of
this SkillsLab. Research on innovative embalming methods has led to the
development of AnubiFiX® , an embalming fluid which keeps the anatomic specimen
fully flexible. This makes it possible to train and perform surgical procedures
such as total hip arthroplasty, total knee arthroplasty and all kinds of
laparoscopic procedures (e.g. laparoscopic cholecystectomy and the totally
extra peritoneal laparoscopic hernia repair (TEPP) )

A Researchproject on learning strategies for
developing (pycho)motor skills in laparoscopic surgery is performed. Currently
one PhD student is engaged in this project. This project is a cooperation
between the SkillsLab and the dept. of Neuroscience-Anatomy.