A wearable electromyography-controlled functional electrical stimulation system improves balance, gait function, and symmetry in older adults

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Wearable technologies have been developed for healthy aging. The technology for electromyography (EMG)-controlled functional electrical stimulation (FES) systems has been developed, but research on how helpful it is in daily life has been insufficient. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the EMG-controlled FES system on muscle morphology, balance, and gait in older adults. METHODS: Twenty-nine older adults were evaluated under two randomly assigned conditions (non-FES and FES assists). Muscle morphology, balance, gait function, and muscle effort during gait were measured using ultrasonography, a physical test, a gait analysis system, and EMG. RESULTS: The EMG-controlled FES system improved gait speed by 11.1% and cadence by 15.6% (P< 0.01). The symmetry ratio of the bilateral gastrocnemius was improved by 9.9% in the stance phase and 11.8% in the swing phase (P< 0.05). The degrees of coactivation of the knee and ankle muscles were reduced by 45.1% and 50.5%, respectively (P< 0.05). Balance improved by 6–10.7% (P< 0.01). CONCLUSION: The EMG-controlled FES system is useful for balance and gait function by increasing muscle symmetry and decreasing muscle coactivation during walking in older adults.

Volitional EMG Estimation Method during Functional Electrical Stimulation by Dual-Channel Surface EMGs

“…We used an integrated EMG and FES board with a weight of and dimensions of . A wearable EMG-controlled FES system with this integrated board was designed to perform a small-scale clinical trial study by commissioned research [ 35 ]. elderly subjects (age: , weight: , height: ) participated under two randomly assigned conditions (with and without EMG-controlled FES).…”

“…Such a system has good potential for application in the clinical and rehabilitation fields because the motion intention of patients can be used to directly control the amplitude of the stimulation intensity. In particular, the system has the potential to improve the muscle contraction efficiency in our present work [ 35 ]. For these reasons, clinical trials will be conducted to investigate the clinical and rehabilitation advantages of the proposed wearable EMG-controlled FES system on a large scale.…”

Recognition of Human Lower Limb Motion and Muscle Fatigue Status Using a Wearable FES-sEMG System

“…This study did not focus on the identification of muscle fatigue states based on sEMG signals. [19] Assessment of the therapeutic effect of functional electrical stimulation in stroke patients using sEMG. This study was not a closed-loop control system based on FES-sEMG.…”

A Study on Energy Efficiency in Walking and Stair Climbing for Elderly Wearing Complex Muscle Support System

“…Type 2 muscle fibers are most affected by aging, and since functional electrical stimulation(FES) on these type 2 muscles first, applying FES to the elderly can improve functions such as balance ability [10]. Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) developed electromyography -controlled FES (EMG-controlled FES) system, a device that can induce muscle contraction by external stimulation by simultaneously stimulating the corresponding muscle with an intensity proportional to the voluntary contraction force [11].…”