Wireless master-slave FES rehabilitation system using sEMG control

Abstract

A new kind of functional electrical stimulation (FES) rehabilitation system is presented in this paper, which can assist the paralyzed patients caused by stroke to perform specific exercise following the therapist's intention. The master-slave rehabilitation concept is firstly introduced into the FES system. This system consists of a master unit and a slave unit, and the two units are connected through wireless communication. Surface electromyography (sEMG) of the master side (therapist) is used as the control command for slave side (patients). Experiments are conducted on the upper limb of healthy subjects and the performance is satisfactory. The system exhibits four useful features: noninvasive technique, master-slave control, wireless communication, and "one to N" training mode. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012.