Personal computer supported eight channel surface stimulator for paraplegic walking: First results

Today functional electrical stimulation (FES) is used among other treatment s to restore hand and arm function, to restore mobility of the lower extrem ities for phrenic pacing, and in cardiomyoplasty. Common to all FES applica tions is that they require careful setup of stimulation parameters. To impr ove these tasks, personal computer (PC) based software for stimulation para meter evaluation and data acquisition was written. First. the described sof tware was used to mobilize paraplegic patients in conjunction with an I2C b us controlled 8 channel surface stimulator. Electrodes were placed on each leg on the m, quadriceps and m. gluteus for hip and knee extension and the peroneal nel ve to elicit flexion reflex. The fourth channel was used to co rrespond to subjects' individual needs. The stimulation patterns for standi ng up, walking, and sitting down easily could be set up and optimized by ad justing up to 128 stimulation parameters in a task-specific way.