Closed-loop control of ankle position using muscle afferent feedback with functional neuromuscular stimulation

Describes a closed-loop functional neuromuscular stimulation system that uses afferent neural activity from muscle spindle fibers as feedback for controlling position of the ankle joint. Ankle extension against a load was effected by neural stimulation through a dual channel intrafascicular electrode of a fascicle of the tibial nerve that innervated the gastrocnemius muscle. Ankle joint angle was estimated from recordings of tibialis anterior and lateral gastrocnemius spindle fiber activity made with dual channel intrafascicular electrodes. Experiments were conducted in neurally intact anesthetized cats and in unanesthetized decerebrate cats to demonstrate the feasibility of this system. The system was able to reach and maintain a fixed target ankle position in the presence of a varying external moment ranging in magnitude between 7.3 and 22 N-cm opposing the action of the ankle extensor, as well as track a sinusoidal target ankle position up to a frequency of 1 Hz in the presence of a constant magnitude 22- or 37-N-cm external moment.

[1]  P. Matthews,et al.  The sensitivity of muscle spindle afferents to small sinusoidal changes of length , 1969, The Journal of physiology.

[2]  G. E. Goslow,et al.  The cat step cycle: Hind limb joint angles and muscle lengths during unrestrained locomotion , 1973, Journal of morphology.

[3]  R. Stein,et al.  Principles Underlying New Methods for Chronic Neural Recording , 1975, Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences / Journal Canadien des Sciences Neurologiques.

[4]  P. H. Peckham,et al.  Closed-Loop Control of Force During Electrical Stimulation of Muscle , 1980, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[5]  F. J. Clark,et al.  Signaling of kinesthetic information by peripheral sensory receptors. , 1982, Annual review of neuroscience.

[6]  T. Bajd,et al.  Gait restoration in paraplegic patients: a feasibility demonstration using multichannel surface electrode FES. , 1983, Journal of rehabilitation R&D.

[7]  R. Penn,et al.  Lower Extremity Functional Neuromuscular Stimulation in Cases of Spinal Cord Injury , 1984, Neurosurgery.

[8]  P. R. Burgess,et al.  Joint angle signaling by muscle spindle receptors , 1986, Brain Research.

[9]  Eugene Isaacson.  Numerical Recipes: The Art of Scientific Computing (William H. Press, Brian P. Flannery, Saul A. Teukolsky, and William T. Vetterling) , 1988 .

[10]  R B Stein,et al.  Providing motor control for the handicapped: a fusion of modern neuroscience, bioengineering, and rehabilitation. , 1988, Advances in neurology.

[11]  F. A. Seiler,et al.  Numerical Recipes in C: The Art of Scientific Computing , 1989 .

[12]  M. Solomonow,et al.  The dynamic response model of nine different skeletal muscles , 1990, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[13]  K. Horch,et al.  Muscle recruitment with intrafascicular electrodes , 1991, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[14]  H.J. Chizeck,et al.  Feedback regulation of hand grasp opening and contact force during stimulation of paralyzed muscle , 1991, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[15]  K. Horch,et al.  Information contained in sensory nerve recordings made with intrafascicular electrodes , 1991, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[16]  P. Crago,et al.  Feedback control of electrically stimulated muscle using simultaneous pulse width and stimulus period modulation , 1991, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[17]  Joaquin Andres Hoffer,et al.  Signals from tactile sensors in glabrous skin , 1991 .

[18]  P. Crago,et al.  Feedback control methods for task regulation by electrical stimulation of muscles , 1991, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[19]  H.J. Chizeck,et al.  Control of end-point forces of a multijoint limb by functional neuromuscular stimulation , 1991, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[20]  K. Horch,et al.  Separation of action potentials in multiunit intrafascicular recordings , 1992, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[21]  The dynamic performance model of skeletal muscle. , 1992, Critical reviews in biomedical engineering.

[22]  G. Loeb,et al.  An intrinsic mechanism to stabilize posture — Joint-angle-dependent moment arms of the feline ankle muscles , 1992, Neuroscience Letters.

[23]  D.B. Popovic,et al.  Sensory nerve recording for closed-loop control to restore motor functions , 1993, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[24]  A. Prochazka,et al.  Comparison of natural and artificial control of movement , 1993 .

[25]  K. Yoshida,et al.  Selective stimulation of peripheral nerve fibers using dual intrafascicular electrodes , 1993, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[26]  Morten Kristian Haugland,et al.  Slip information provided by nerve cuff signals: application in closed-loop control of functional electrical stimulation , 1994 .

[27]  Morten Kristian Haugland,et al.  Skin contact force information in sensory nerve signals recorded by implanted cuff electrodes , 1994 .

[28]  K. Horch,et al.  Classification of action potentials in multi-unit intrafascicular recordings using neural network pattern-recognition techniques , 1994 .

[29]  T.G. McNaughton,et al.  Action potential classification with dual channel intrafascicular electrodes , 1994, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[30]  R. Stein,et al.  Instrumentation for ENG and EMG recordings in FES systems , 1994, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[31]  Cutaneous Nerve Recordings used for Control of FES in Man , 1994 .

[32]  Graham H. Creasey,et al.  Perspectives on new electrode technology for stimulating peripheral nerves with implantable motor prostheses , 1995 .