Development of wireless-based low-cost current controlled stimulator for patients with spinal cord injuries

A spinal cord injury (SCI) has a severe impact on human life in general as well as on the physical status and condition. The use of electrical signals to restore the function of paralyzed muscles is called functional electrical stimulation (FES). FES is a promising way to restore mobility to SCI by applying low-level electrical current to the paralyzed muscles so as to enhance that person's ability to function and live independently. However, due to the limited number of commercially available FES assisted exerciser systems and their rather high cost, the conventional devices are unaffordable for most peoples. It also inconvenient because of wired based system that creates a limitation in performing exercise. Thus, this project is concerned with the development of low-cost current controlled stimulator mainly for the paraplegic subjects. The developed device should be based on a microcontroller, wireless based system using Zigbee module, voltage-to-current converter circuit and should produce proper monophasic and biphasic current pulses, pulse trains, arbitrary current waveforms, and a trigger output for FES applications. The performances of the device will be assessed through simulation study and validated through experimental work. This device will be developed as in the new technique of the stimulator development with low cost and one of the contributing factors in Rehabilitation Engineering for patients with SCI.

[1]  M. Sawan,et al.  Implantable measurement technique dedicated to the monitoring of electrode-nerve contact in bladder stimulators , 2006, Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing.

[2]  Kenneth J. Hunt,et al.  Workrate and cadence control for exercise testing in FES cycling , 2003 .

[3]  J. Bobet,et al.  Can muscle models improve FES-assisted walking after spinal cord injury? , 1998, Journal of electromyography and kinesiology : official journal of the International Society of Electrophysiological Kinesiology.

[4]  Zhaoying Zhou,et al.  Stimulator for real time control of paralyzed muscles during functional electrical stimulation , 1996, Proceedings of Third International Conference on Electronics, Circuits, and Systems.

[5]  Abbas Erfanian,et al.  A Portable Programmable Transcutaneous Neuroprosthesis with Built-in Self-Test Capability for Training and Mobility in Paraplegic subjects , 2006 .

[6]  D. F. Lovely,et al.  Design of a PC controlled constant current stimulator for evoked potential studies , 2000, Proceedings of the 22nd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (Cat. No.00CH37143).

[7]  Dejan B. Popovic.  CONTROL ISSUES FOR MOTOR NEUROPROSTHESES , 2004 .

[8]  Xiaopei Wu,et al.  Design and Implementation of the Zigbee-Based Body Sensor Network System , 2009, 2009 5th International Conference on Wireless Communications, Networking and Mobile Computing.

[9]  Yoichi Shimada,et al.  Functional Electrical Stimulation for Spinal Cord Injury , 2004 .

[10]  Dayu He,et al.  The ZigBee Wireless Sensor Network in medical care applications , 2010, 2010 International Conference on Computer, Mechatronics, Control and Electronic Engineering.

[11]  J.A. De Lima,et al.  of the 23 rd Annual EMBS International Conference , October 25-28 , Istanbul , Turkey A Simple Constant-Current Neural Stimulator With Accurate Pulse-Amplitude Control , 2004 .

[12]  Marios S. Pattichis,et al.  Wireless telemedicine systems: an overview , 2002 .

[13]  M. Schwarz,et al.  Area saving stimulator cells for multielectrode arrays featuring adaptive waveform generation and monitoring , 2004, The 26th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[14]  K.W.E. Cheng,et al.  Development of a circuit for functional electrical stimulation , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.

[15]  Xiao Liu,et al.  Recent advances in the design of implantable stimulator output stages , 2007, 2007 18th European Conference on Circuit Theory and Design.

[16]  Kim Fung Tsang,et al.  ZigBee WiMAX nursery system for patient monitoring , 2008, 2008 Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference.

[17]  A. Fallah,et al.  Musculo-Skeletal Model of Arm for FES Research Studies , 2008, 2008 Cairo International Biomedical Engineering Conference.

[18]  E. Condie,et al.  Functional Electrical Stimulation: Standing and Walking After Spinal Cord Injury , 1990 .

[19]  Han-Chang Wu,et al.  A versatile multichannel direct-synthesized electrical stimulator for FES applications , 2000, Proceedings of the 17th IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference [Cat. No. 00CH37066].

[20]  Maury L. Hull,et al.  Muscle Stimulation Waveform Timing Patterns for Upper and Lower Leg Muscle Groups to Increase Muscular Endurance in Functional Electrical Stimulation Pedaling Using a Forward Dynamic Model , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.