Real-time and wearable functional electrical stimulation system for volitional hand motor function control using the electromyography bridge method

Voluntary participation of hemiplegic patients is crucial for functional electrical stimulation therapy. A wearable functional electrical stim-ulation system has been proposed for real-time volitional hand motor function control using the electromyography bridge method. hTrough a series of novel design concepts, including the integration of a detecting circuit and an analog-to-digital converter, a miniaturized functional electrical stimulation circuit technique, a low-power super-regeneration chip for wireless receiving, and two wearable armbands, a pro-totype system has been established with reduced size, power, and overall cost. Based on wrist joint torque reproduction and classiifcation experiments performed on six healthy subjects, the optimized surface electromyography thresholds and trained logistic regression classiifer parameters were statistically chosen to establish wrist and hand motion control with high accuracy. Test results showed that wrist lfexion/extension, hand grasp, and ifnger extension could be reproduced with high accuracy and low latency. hTis system can build a bridge of in-formation transmission between healthy limbs and paralyzed limbs, effectively improve voluntary participation of hemiplegic patients, and elevate effciency of rehabilitation training.