An electrode configuration technique using an electrode matrix arrangement for FES-based upper arm rehabilitation systems

An upper limb electrical stimulation technique has been developed which features a novel self-configuration approach, to obtain an ideal wrist response from the patient. The system uses an analogue de-multiplexer in conjunction with an electrode matrix so that different electrode sites can be tested using only one channel of stimulation. A twin axis goniometer is attached to the patient's wrist and flex sensors are attached to the patient's fingers so that the control algorithm can assess the wrist response. A data acquisition unit logs the data for further analysis. A clinical investigation on healthy subjects was conducted to test the proposed system. The results show a high variation in hand response across different subjects. In addition, for all subjects tested an ideal response was found which shows some justification for the use of the proposed technique. (c) 2005 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.