RIC Patient Stories

Eric Edmundson

Eric Edumundson

Eric, a military veteran, received a complex combination of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and anoxic brain injury (ABI) due to a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq.

Read Eric's patient story

Michele Lee

Michele Lee

Michele Lee found a career and an aptitude for art through RIC's Second Look program.

Read Michele's patient story.

Eric Weil

Eric Weil

Eric, a pediatrician working in Chicago, participated in RIC's prime-of-life program to recover the abilities that drive his life.

Read Eric's story

Natalie Davis

Natalie Davis

Natalie Davis took part in rehabilitation including robot-assisted therapy to advance her ability.

Read Natalie's story.

Omar Al-Dhafiri

Omar and his father traveled from Kuwait to Chicago for Omar's care after he sustained a traumatic brain injury.

Read Omar's patient story

Photograph of Derek Kamper

Derek Kamper, PhD

  • Adjunct Professor, PM&R, NU
  • Associate Director, Research, SMPP, RIC

Locations

Research Interests

Derek Kamper, PhD is currently researching Motor control and rehabilitation of the hand; neuromechanics; modeling of biological systems; robotics.

Awards & Recognition

1998-2000 - Individual NRSA Award for Postdoctoral Fellows, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

1997-1998 - Institutional NRSA Award for Postdoctoral Fellows, Northwestern University.

1996-1997 - Ohio State University Presidential Fellowship.

1990-1991 - Ohio State University Alumni Fellowship.

Recent Publications & Presentations

Seo NJ, Rymer WZ, Kamper DG.Altered digit force direction during pinch grip following stroke. Exp Brain Res. 2010 May;202(4):891-901.

Connelly L, Stoykov ME, Jia Y, Toro ML, Kenyon RV, Kamper DG. Use of a pneumatic glove for hand rehabilitation following stroke. Conf Proc IEEE EMBS 2009.

Ochoa J, Dev Narasimhan YJ, Kamper DG.Development of a portable actuated orthotic glove to facilitate gross extension of the digits for therapeutic training after stroke. Conf Proc IEEE EMBS 2009.

Qiu D, Fischer HC, Kamper DG. Muscle activation patterns during force generation of the index finger. Conf Proc IEEE EMBS 2009.

Cruz EG, Kamper DG. Use of a novel robotic interface to study finger motor control. Ann Biomed Eng. 2010 Feb;38(2):259-68.

Hoffmann G, Kamper DG, Kahn JH, Rymer WZ, Schmit BD. Modulation of stretch reflexes of the finger flexors by sensory feedback from the proximal upper limb poststroke. J Neurophysiol. 2009 Sep;102(3):1420-9.

Lee SW, Kamper DG. Modeling of multiarticular muscles: importance of inclusion of tendon-pulley interactions in the finger. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2009 Sep;56(9):2253-62.

Seo NJ, Rymer WZ, Kamper DG.Delays in grip initiation and termination in persons with stroke: effects of arm support and active muscle stretch exercise. J Neurophysiol. 2009 Jun;101(6):3108-15.

Seo NJ, Rymer WZ, Kamper DG. Delays in grip initiation and termination in persons with stroke: effects of arm support and active muscle stretch exercise. Journal of Neurophysiology [in review].

Hoffmann G, Kamper DG, Kahn JH, Schmit BD. Modulation of stretch reflexes of the finger flexors by sensory feedback from the proximal upper limb post-stroke. Journal of Neurophysiology [in review].

Lee, SW, Chen H, Towles JD, Kamper DG. Effect of finger posture on the tendon force distribution within the finger extensor mechanism. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering 2008; 30:051014.

Iwamuro BT, Cruz EG, Connelly LL, Fischer HC, Kamper DG. Effect of a gravity compensating orthosis on reaching after stroke: evaluation of the TA-WREX. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2008; 89: 2121-8.

Lee, SW, Chen H, Towles JD, Kamper DG. Estimation of the effective static moment arms of the tendons in the index finger extensor mechanism. Journal of Biomechanics 2008; 41: 1567-73.

Fischer HC, Stubblefield K, Kline TL, Luo X, Kenyon RV, Kamper DG. Virtual reality and mechatronics for hand rehabilitation following stroke: a pilot study. Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation 2007; 14: 1-12.

Simone LK, Sundarrajan N, Luo X, Jia Y, Kamper DG. A low cost instrumented glove for extended monitoring and functional hand assessment. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 2007; 160: 335-348.

Kline TL, Schmit, BD, Kamper DG. Exaggerated interlimb neural coupling following stroke. Brain 2007; 130:159-169.

Kamper DG, Fischer HC, Cruz EG, Rymer WZ. Weakness is the primary contributor to finger impairment in chronic stroke. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2006; 87: 1262-1269.

Cruz EG, Kamper DG. Kinematics of point-to-point finger movements. Experimental Brain Research 2006; 174: 29-34.

Kamper DG, Waldinger HC, Cruz EG. Impact of finger posture on mapping from muscle activation to joint torque. Clinical Biomechanics 2006; 21:361-369.

Kamper DG, Yasukawa AM, Barrett KM, Gaebler-Spira DJ. Effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation treatment of cerebral palsy on potential impairment mechanisms: a pilot study. Pediatric Physical Therapy 2006; 18:31-38.

Li S, Kamper DG,Rymer WZ. Effects of changing wrist positions on finger flexor hypertonia in stroke survivors. Muscle & Nerve 2006; 33: 183-190.

Simone LK, Kamper DG. Design considerations for a wearable monitor to measure finger posture. Journal of Neuroengineering Rehabilitation 2005; 2: 5-14.

Cruz EG, Waldinger HC, Kamper DG. Kinetic and kinematic workspaces of the index finger following stroke. Brain 2005; 128: 1112-1121.

Li S, Stevens JA, Kamper DG, Rymer, WZ. The movement-specific effect of motor imagery on the premotor time. Motor Control 2005; 9:119-128.


Conference Papers

Seo NJ, Kamper DG. Effect of grip location, arm support, and muscle stretch on sustained finger flexor activity following stroke In: Proceedings of the 30th International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Vancouver, Canada, 2008.

Jia Y, Toro ML, Luo X, Lau S, Kenyon R, Kamper D. Integration of virtual reality and an assistive device for hand rehabilitation following stroke. In: Proceedings of the IEEE/ICME International Conference & Exhibition on Complex Medical Engineering, Beijing, China, 2007.

Worsnopp TT, Peshkin MA, Colgate JE, Kamper DG. An acuated finger exoskeleton for hand rehabilitation following stroke. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics, Noorwijk, Netherlands, 2007. pp. 896-901.