Restoration of Volitional Limb Movement of Hemiplegics following Patterned Functional Electrical Stimulation

Abstract

24 hemiplegic patients completed patterned functional electrical stimulation (PFES) upon the afflicted arm and leg. The multichannel PFES program was mathematically derived from the EMG agonist/antagonist pattern recorded from each subject's unaffected limbs during a series of monitored, voluntary movements. The average improvement in volitional range of motion for the group's paralyzed limbs was 90% for the upper extremities and 69% for the lower extremities. For partially paralyzed limbs, there was an average increase in range of movement of 68% for the upper extremities and 26% for the lower extremities. These findings support the relearning-based, PFES open-loop theory which uses individualized therapeutic PFES-derived from EMG coordination patterns modeled from specific, ballistic limb movements to rehabilitate patients who have been immobilized after stroke.