Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

A decision support system for electrode shaping in multi-pad FES foot drop correction

Malešević, Jovana ; Dedijer Dujović, Suzana ; Savić, Andrej M. ; Konstantinović, Ljubica ; Vidaković, Aleksandra ; Bijelić, Goran ; Malesevic, Nebojsa LU and Keller, Thierry (2017) In Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation 14(1).
Abstract

Background: Functional electrical stimulation (FES) can be applied as an assistive and therapeutic aid in the rehabilitation of foot drop. Transcutaneous multi-pad electrodes can increase the selectivity of stimulation; however, shaping the stimulation electrode becomes increasingly complex with an increasing number of possible stimulation sites. We described and tested a novel decision support system (DSS) to facilitate the process of multi-pad stimulation electrode shaping. The DSS is part of a system for drop foot treatment that comprises a custom-designed multi-pad electrode, an electrical stimulator, and an inertial measurement unit. Methods: The system was tested in ten stroke survivors (3-96 months post stroke) with foot drop... (More)

Background: Functional electrical stimulation (FES) can be applied as an assistive and therapeutic aid in the rehabilitation of foot drop. Transcutaneous multi-pad electrodes can increase the selectivity of stimulation; however, shaping the stimulation electrode becomes increasingly complex with an increasing number of possible stimulation sites. We described and tested a novel decision support system (DSS) to facilitate the process of multi-pad stimulation electrode shaping. The DSS is part of a system for drop foot treatment that comprises a custom-designed multi-pad electrode, an electrical stimulator, and an inertial measurement unit. Methods: The system was tested in ten stroke survivors (3-96 months post stroke) with foot drop over 20 daily sessions. The DSS output suggested stimulation pads and parameters based on muscle twitch responses to short stimulus trains. The DSS ranked combinations of pads and current amplitudes based on a novel measurement of the quality of the induced movement and classified them based on the movement direction (dorsiflexion, plantar flexion, eversion and inversion) of the paretic foot. The efficacy of the DSS in providing satisfactory pad-current amplitude choices for shaping the stimulation electrode was evaluated by trained clinicians. The range of paretic foot motion was used as a quality indicator for the chosen patterns. Results: The results suggest that the DSS output was highly effective in creating optimized FES patterns. The position and number of pads included showed pronounced inter-patient and inter-session variability; however, zones for inducing dorsiflexion and plantar flexion within the multi-pad electrode were clearly separated. The range of motion achieved with FES was significantly greater than the corresponding active range of motion (p < 0.05) during the first three weeks of therapy. Conclusions: The proposed DSS in combination with a custom multi-pad electrode design covering the branches of peroneal and tibial nerves proved to be an effective tool for producing both the dorsiflexion and plantar flexion of a paretic foot. The results support the use of multi-pad electrode technology in combination with automatic electrode shaping algorithms for the rehabilitation of foot drop. Trial registration: This study was registered at the Current Controlled Trials website with ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT02729636 on March 29, 2016.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Decision support system, Foot drop, Functional electrical stimulation, Multi-pad electrode, Stroke
in
Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation
volume
14
issue
1
article number
66
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • pmid:28673311
  • wos:000405691200001
  • scopus:85021646641
ISSN
1743-0003
DOI
10.1186/s12984-017-0275-5
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
1a3c1170-2478-40cd-9b60-ff85a0c2bb0c
date added to LUP
2017-07-26 08:52:49
date last changed
2024-09-02 04:21:25
@article{1a3c1170-2478-40cd-9b60-ff85a0c2bb0c,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Functional electrical stimulation (FES) can be applied as an assistive and therapeutic aid in the rehabilitation of foot drop. Transcutaneous multi-pad electrodes can increase the selectivity of stimulation; however, shaping the stimulation electrode becomes increasingly complex with an increasing number of possible stimulation sites. We described and tested a novel decision support system (DSS) to facilitate the process of multi-pad stimulation electrode shaping. The DSS is part of a system for drop foot treatment that comprises a custom-designed multi-pad electrode, an electrical stimulator, and an inertial measurement unit. Methods: The system was tested in ten stroke survivors (3-96 months post stroke) with foot drop over 20 daily sessions. The DSS output suggested stimulation pads and parameters based on muscle twitch responses to short stimulus trains. The DSS ranked combinations of pads and current amplitudes based on a novel measurement of the quality of the induced movement and classified them based on the movement direction (dorsiflexion, plantar flexion, eversion and inversion) of the paretic foot. The efficacy of the DSS in providing satisfactory pad-current amplitude choices for shaping the stimulation electrode was evaluated by trained clinicians. The range of paretic foot motion was used as a quality indicator for the chosen patterns. Results: The results suggest that the DSS output was highly effective in creating optimized FES patterns. The position and number of pads included showed pronounced inter-patient and inter-session variability; however, zones for inducing dorsiflexion and plantar flexion within the multi-pad electrode were clearly separated. The range of motion achieved with FES was significantly greater than the corresponding active range of motion (p &lt; 0.05) during the first three weeks of therapy. Conclusions: The proposed DSS in combination with a custom multi-pad electrode design covering the branches of peroneal and tibial nerves proved to be an effective tool for producing both the dorsiflexion and plantar flexion of a paretic foot. The results support the use of multi-pad electrode technology in combination with automatic electrode shaping algorithms for the rehabilitation of foot drop. Trial registration: This study was registered at the Current Controlled Trials website with ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT02729636 on March 29, 2016.</p>}},
  author       = {{Malešević, Jovana and Dedijer Dujović, Suzana and Savić, Andrej M. and Konstantinović, Ljubica and Vidaković, Aleksandra and Bijelić, Goran and Malesevic, Nebojsa and Keller, Thierry}},
  issn         = {{1743-0003}},
  keywords     = {{Decision support system; Foot drop; Functional electrical stimulation; Multi-pad electrode; Stroke}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation}},
  title        = {{A decision support system for electrode shaping in multi-pad FES foot drop correction}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12984-017-0275-5}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s12984-017-0275-5}},
  volume       = {{14}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}