Electrical stimulation providing functional use of paraplegic patient muscles

The paper presents a short description of the field of electrical stimulation of skeletal muscles and a survey of the recent achievements in the functional electrical stimulation (FES) of paraplegic patients. The major emphasis is placed on the discussion of the basic problems concerning muscle fatigue, muscle retraining and patient selection. Muscle strengthening and exercising procedures using electrical stimulation are described. The obtained properties of retrained muscles with special regard to their fatiguing are clearly documented. The potential possibilities of using FES for performing functional tasks are discussed and the results of preliminary experiments are illustrated. The standing and primitive walking of patient, induced by electrically stimulated paralyzed muscles are presented. Finally, a proposal for an orthotic device using electrical stimulation is described, which enables a paraplegic patient to stand by means of support of his proper bones and muscle forces.