Evaluation of Individualized Functional Electrical Stimulation-Induced Acute Changes during Walking: A Case Series in Children with Cerebral Palsy.
Nicole ZahradkaAhad BehboodiAshwini SansareSamuel C K LeePublished in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) (2021)
Functional electrical stimulation (FES) walking interventions have demonstrated improvements to gait parameters; however, studies were often confined to stimulation of one or two muscle groups. Increased options such as number of muscle groups targeted, timing of stimulation delivery, and level of stimulation are needed to address subject-specific gait deviations. We aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of using a FES system with increased stimulation options during walking in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Three physical therapists designed individualized stimulation programs for six children with CP to target participant-specific gait deviations. Stimulation settings (pulse duration and current) were tuned to each participant. Participants donned our custom FES system that utilized gait phase detection to control stimulation to lower extremity muscle groups and walked on a treadmill at a self-selected speed. Motion capture data were collected during walking with and without the individualized stimulation program. Eight gait metrics and associated timing were compared between walking conditions. The prescribed participant-specific stimulation programs induced significant change towards typical gait in at least one metric for each participant with one iteration of FES-walking. FES systems with increased stimulation options have the potential to allow the physical therapist to better target the individual's gait deviations than a one size fits all device.
Keyphrases
- children with cerebral palsy
- skeletal muscle
- physical activity
- cerebral palsy
- lower limb
- public health
- spinal cord injury
- mental health
- drug delivery
- machine learning
- big data
- young adults
- climate change
- quality improvement
- diabetic rats
- data analysis
- electronic health record
- human health
- drug induced
- high glucose
- loop mediated isothermal amplification