Wireless distributed functional electrical stimulation system

Background: the control of movement in humans is hierarchical and distributed and uses feedback. an assistive system could be best integrated into the therapy of a human with a central nervous system lesion if the system is controlled in a similar manner. here,we present a novel wireless architecture and routing protocol for a distributed functional electrical stimulation system that enables control of movement. methods. the new system comprises a set of miniature battery-powered devices with stimulating and sensing functionality mounted on the body of the subject. the devices communicate wirelessly with one coordinator device,which is connected to a host computer. the control algorithm runs on the computer in open- or closed-loop form. a prototype of the system was designed using commercial,off-the-shelf components. the propagation characteristics of electromagnetic waves and the distributed nature of the system were considered during the development of a two-hop routing protocol,which was implemented in the prototypes software. results: the outcomes of this research include a novel system architecture and routing protocol and a functional prototype based on commercial,off-the-shelf components. a proof-of-concept study was performed on a hemiplegic subject with paresis of the right arm. the subject was tasked with generating a fully functional palmar grasp (closing of the fingers). one node was used to provide this movement,while a second node controlled the activation of extensor muscles to eliminate undesired wrist flexion. the system was tested with the open- and closed-loop control algorithms. conclusions: the system fulfilled technical and application requirements. the novel communication protocol enabled reliable real-time use of the system in both closed- and open-loop forms. the testing on a patient showed that the multi-node system could operate effectively to generate functional movement. © 2012 jovii et al.; licensee biomed central ltd.