Article

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) facilitates ambulatory function after
paralysis of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) by exciting the peripheral
motor nerves to activate the muscles of the lower limbs.
This study identified a
process for selecting command sources for triggering FES with the surface
electromyogram (EMG) from muscles partially paralyzed by incomplete SCI, given
its high degree of intersubject variability. We found Discriminability Index (DI)
to be a good metric to evaluate the potential of controlling FES-assisted
ambulation in four nondisabled volunteers and two participants with incomplete
paralysis. The left erector spinae (ES) (mean DI = 0.87) for triggering the left
step and the right ES (mean
DI = 0.83) for triggering the right step were the
best command sources for participant 1. The left ES (mean DI = 0.93) for
triggering the left step and the right medial gastrocnemius (mean DI = 0.88) for
triggering the right step were the best command sources for participant 2. Our
results showed that command sources can be selected objectively from surface EMG
before a fully implantable EMG-triggered FES system for walking is implemented.

Langue : ANGLAIS