A multichannel FES system for the restoration of motor functions in high spinal cord injury patients: a respiration-controlled system for multijoint upper extremity

A multichannel functional electrical stimulation (FES) system for the restoration of quadriplegic upper extremity function is described. The system is composed of a personal computer, peripheral electronic circuits, CRT display and respiratory sensors for volitional control by the patient, and percutaneous electrodes. In this system, versatile volitional control is realized by controlling the memory allocation of the stored stimulation data by voluntary respiratory signals, and sophisticated fine control of the fingers, wrists, and elbow is realized by creating multichannel stimulation data from recorded myoelectric activities of normal subjects during movements of the upper limb.