A blink restoration system with contralateral EMG triggered stimulation and real-time software based artifact blanking

Patients suffering from facial paralysis are on the hazard of disfigurement and loss of vision due to loss of blink function. Functional-electrical stimulation (FES) is one possible way of restoring blink and other functions in these patients. A blink restoration system for uni-lateral facial paralyzed patients is described in this paper. The system achieves restoration of synchronized blink through processing on EMG signal from eyelid of healthy side in real-time and stimulating the paralyzed eyelid. Design issues are discussed, including real-time artifact blanking, stimulating strategies and EMG processing. An artifact removal algorithm based on software sample and hold technique is proposed. Finally, the whole system has been verified on rabbits.