Multichannel biphasic muscle stimulation system for post stroke rehabilitation

Abstract

We present biphasic stimulator electronics developed for a wearable functional electrical stimulation system. The reported stimulator electronics consist of a twenty four channel biphasic stimulator. The stimulator circuitry is physically smaller per channel and offers a greater degree of control over stimulation parameters than existing functional electrical stimulator systems. The design achieves this by using, off the shelf multichannel high voltage switch integrated circuits combined with discrete current limiting and dc blocking circuitry for the frontend, and field programmable gate array based logic to manage pulse timing. The system has been tested on both healthy adults and those with reduced upper limb function following a stroke. Initial testing on healthy users has shown the stimulator can reliably generate specific target gestures such as palm opening or pointing with an average accuracy of better than 4 degrees across all gestures. Tests on stroke survivors produced some movement but this was limited by the mechanical movement available in those users’ hands.