Authors:
E. Durana
1
;
V. Santos
1
;
A. Lopes
2
and
F. Vistulo de Abreu
1
Affiliations:
1
University of Aveiro, Portugal
;
2
Centro de Medicina e Reabilitação da Região Centro, Portugal
Keyword(s):
Electrical stimulation, Rehabilitation, Functional Electric Stimulation (FES), Feedback, Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), Stroke.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Biomedical Engineering
;
Biomedical Equipment
;
Biomedical Instrumentation
;
Biomedical Instruments and Devices
;
Biomedical Sensors
;
Low-Power Design
Abstract:
In physical rehabilitation, electrical stimulation is widely used as a therapeutic method. However, as it is not common to find portable devices, capable of integrating information from different sensors, and also with flexibility in signal generation and triggering. This paper presents an integrated electrostimulation system that encompasses all those facilities. The system integrates feedback signals coming from an accelerometer and is capable of adapting electrostimulation depending on motor performance. The device uses a microcontroller for the waveform generation, and allows controlled waveforms to be produced in response to signals read from feedback sensors. Besides this high versatility, the principle of the power generation employed by the device and additional hardware circuitry also provides mechanisms to ensure patient safety in the unlikely cases of malfunction of the microcontroller. Here we also present an example of application of the device that uses real time feedba
ck information to control electrical stimulation.
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