Comparison of Muscle Stimulation Groups for Simplified Practical FES Cycling Control with Cycling Wheelchair: An Experimental Test with Healthy Subjects

Abstract

SUMMARYThe cycling wheelchair "Profhand" was developed in Japan as locomotion and lower limb rehabilitation device for hemiplegic subjects and elderly persons. Functional electrical stimulation (FES) control of paralyzed lower limbs enables application of the Profhand to paraplegic subjects as a rehabilitation device. In this paper, simplified muscle stimulation control for FES cycling with Profhand was examined for practical application, because cycling speed was low and not stable in our preliminary study and there was a difficulty in setting stimulation electrodes for the gluteus maximus. First, a guideline of target cycling speed to be achieved by FES cycling was determined from voluntary cycling with healthy subjects in order to evaluate FES cycling control. The cycling speed of 0.6m/s was determined as acceptable value and 1.0m/s was as ideal one. Then, stimulation to the gluteus maximus and that to the dorsiflexor muscles in addition to the quadriceps femoris were examined for simple FES cycling control for Profhand with healthy subjects. Stimulation timing was adjusted automatically during cycling based on muscle response time to electrical stimulation and cycling speed, which was shown to be effective for FES cycling control. Simple FES cycling control with Profhand removing stimulation to the gluteus maximus was found to be feasible. Stimulation to the dorsiflexor muscles with the quadriceps femoris was suggested to be effective for practical, simple FES cycling with Profhand in case of removing the gluteus maximus stimulation.

Experimental Tests of a Prototype of IMU-Based Closed-Loop Fuzzy Control System for Mobile FES Cycling with Pedaling Wheelchair

“…Stimulation timing used in this study was determined based on EMG signals during voluntary cycling [19]. Although muscle response time [9] was tested in using with EMG-based stimulation timing, there was no significant improvement [19]. Further studies for compensating the delay in muscle response is necessary.…”

“…Electrical stimulation was applied to the rectus femoris (RF), the vastus lateralis (VL) and the tibialis anterior (TA) of both lower limbs. These stimulated muscles were determined based on our previous studies [8], [9]. Briefly, the hamstrings and the gluteus maximus were not used considering practical application, because attachment of stimulation electrodes to these muscles sometimes needs troublesome operation with a few staffs in the case of subjects with lower limb paralysis.…”

“…For the purpose of motor rehabilitation, bicycle ergometer combined with FES has been studied [3]- [7]. In our previous studies, FES cycling system with the pedaling wheelchair was developed [8], [9], which can be useful both for motor rehabilitation and mobile cycling for motor disabled subjects. The system applied electrical stimulation pulses with the maximum stimulation intensity in order to provide enough high speed cycling, because propelling the wheelchair with low cycling speed was difficult at the beginning and at making a turn, in which the wheelchair stopped right away.…”

“…FES control for mobile cycling depends on cycling system [9], [12]- [16], in which most of the cycling system used open-loop control. Closed-loop control of cycling speed in FES cycling was tested with an enhanced experimental cycling ergometer by using fuzzy and PD controllers [12] or with a system assisted by an electric motor [14].…”

Design of Closed-Loop Fuzzy FES Controller and Tests in Controlling Knee Extension Movements

“…Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is a technique for assisting or restoring paralyzed motor functions caused by spinal cord injury or celebrovascular disease, which has been recently applied to rehabilitation training [1], [2]. We have studied on rehabilitation system with a pedaling wheelchair using FES [3], which makes it possible to carry out safely rehabilitation training of lower limbs of paraplegic subjects. In that FES cycling system, electrical stimulation pulses with constant stimulation intensities were applied to lower limb muscles switching between the right and the left sides, and the maximum stimulation intensity was used in order to achieve enough high cycling speed.…”