A systems approach to medically prescribed functional electrical stimulation. Ambulation after spinal cord injury.

A functional electrical stimulation (FES) system for ambulation of spinal cord injured patients has been described to consist of physician prescriptable, commercially available components. The system components are: electrical muscle stimulators, a reciprocating gait orthosis and the electrode delivery system. A systems approach to medically prescribed FES ambulation requires the interfacing of these basic components, each of which has the flexibility to adjust to the optimal configuration for each individual patient. The electrode delivery system is of central importance in interfacing the basic components. This report describes the electrode delivery system, a transcutaneous transducer garment, which allows a variety of electrode configurations and stimulation patterns. The system has been successfully employed on a C7 level tetraplegic patient and a T9 level paraplegic patient.