• 대한의용생체공학회:의공학회지
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• 제15권4호
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• pp.429-438
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• 1994

An electrical stimulator was designed to induce locomotion for paraplegic patients caused by central nervous system injury. Optimal stimulus parameters, which can minimize muscle fatigue and can achieve effective muscle contraction were determined in slow and fast muscles in Sprague-Dawley rats. Stimulus patterns of our stimulator were designed to simulate eleclromyographic activity monitored during locomotion of normal subjects. Muscle types of the lower extremity were classified according to their mechanical property of contraction, which are slow muscle (msoleus m.) and fast muscle (medial gastrocnemius m., rectus femoris m., vastus lateralis m.). Optimal parameters of electrical stimulation for slow muscles were 20 Hz, 0.2 ms square pulse. For fast muscle, 40 Hz, 0.3 ms square pulse was optimal to produce repeated contraction. Higher'stimulus intensity was required when synergistic muscles were stimulated simultaneously than when they were stimulated individually. Electrical stimulation for each muscle was designed to generate bipedal locomotion, so that individual muscles alternate contraction and relaxation to simulate stance and swing phases. Portable electrical stimulator with 16 channels built in microprocessor was constructed and applied to paraplegic patients due to lumbar cord injury. The electrical slimulator restored partially gait function in paraplegic patients.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.31-40
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• 1982

The present experiment was carried out to elucidate interrelation between the vestibular canals and the extraocular oblique muscles. In urethane anesthetized rabbits, excitatory or inhibitory effect of the canal was produced by three different methods; selective electrical stimulation of the ampullary nerve, bidirectional (ampullofugal or ampullopetal) lymphatic fluid flow, and rapid freezing of the canal. Changes of isometric tension as well as electro-myographic activity of the oblique muscles were recorded in the ipsilateral and contralateral eyes, by means of a polygraphic recorder, and the following results were obtained. 1) Electrical stimulation of a unilateral vertical or horizontal nerve caused contraction of superior oblique muscle and relaxation of inferior oblique muscle in the ipsilateral eye, and contraction of inferior oblique muscle and relaxation of superior oblique muscle in the contralateral eye. 2) Ampullofugal flow in a vertical canal and ampullopetal flow in a horizontal canal caused the oblique muscle responses which were identical to those responses produced by the electrical stimulation of the same canal nerve. 3) Rapid freezing of a vertical canal elicited the oblique muscle responses which were opposite to those caused by electrical stimulation of the same canal nerve. From the above experimental results, functional interrelation between the individual vestibular canal and bilateral extraocular oblique muscles were better elucidated. When these results were compared to those reported by previous investigators (Utzumi, Suzuki et al.), some important discrepancies were found between them. We ascribed such discrepancies to experimental errors of the previous investigators, since their results reflected theoretical contradictions in terms of vestibular eye movements.

• 한국콘텐츠학회논문지
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• 제9권6호
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• pp.187-195
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• 2009

본 연구는 흰쥐를 대상으로 좌골신경 압좌 손상 유발 후 경피신경전기자극과 전침자극을 적용하고 진통효과와 기능회복에 미치는 영향을 알아보았다. 실험동물은 경피신경전기자극군을 적용한 TENS군, 전침자극군을 적용한 EA군과 대조군으로 구분하였고, 각각의 군은 전기자극 적용기간에 따라 1일군, 7일군 및 14일군으로 나누었다. 경피신경자극과 전침자극을 적용한 결과, 실험군에서 대조군에 비하여 통각신경활성의 지표로 이용되는 c-fos 발현의 감소, 발도피지연시의 증가, 좌골신경기능지수의 증가를 통해 전기자극이 말초신경 손상에서 통증억제와 기능회복을 증가시키는 것으로 나타났다. 하지만 경피신경전기자극군과 전침자극군간의 유의한 차이는 관찰되지 않았다.

• 대한물리치료과학회지
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.105-112
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• 2002

When any damage or disease occurs, muscular strength and muscular endurance are lowered, and thus, if one is able to be restored from the damage or the disease, appropriate stimulus is required, since the muscles have to restore their proper functions. For such stimulus, the way of exercising and the way using electric stimulus are used in physical therapy. In order to examine the change in muscular strength, muscular endurance and girth of limbs for Biceps brachii, according to the lands of stimulus, in this article a total of 42 healthy male and female adults in their twenties were randomly sampled, and a series of tests were conducted for 6 weeks, for 15 minutes per once, 3 times per week, respectively, dividing them into the group for RUS(Russian Current Stimulation), PRE(Progressive Resistive Exercise) and P+R(RUS + PRE). The findings showed that the change in muscular strength was most significant as for the group for P+R, since it increased from $62.12{\pm}25.30$ before experiment to $95.78{\pm}34.07$ after 6 weeks: the change in muscular endurance was most significant as for the group for P+R, since it increased from $17.57{\pm}6.63$ to $42.86{\pm}10.24$; and the change in the girth of limbs was slightly significant only in the group for P+R, and the remaining two groups showed no significance.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• 제14권5호
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• pp.658-665
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• 2014

The neural stimulators have been employed to the visual prostheses system based on the functional electrical stimulation (FES). Due to the size limitation of the implantable device, the smaller area of the unit current driver pixel is highly desired for higher resolution current stimulation system. This paper presents a 16-channel compact current-mode neural stimulator IC with digital to analog converter (DAC) sharing scheme for artificial retinal prostheses. The individual pixel circuits in the stimulator IC share a single 6 bit DAC using the sample-and-hold scheme. The DAC sharing scheme enables the simultaneous stimulation on multiple active pixels with a single DAC while maintaining small size and low power. The layout size of the stimulator circuit with the DAC sharing scheme is reduced to be 51.98 %, compared to the conventional scheme. The stimulator IC is designed using standard $0.18{\mu}m$ 1P6M process. The chip size except the I/O cells is $437{\mu}m{\times}501{\mu}m$.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.195-202
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• 2019

Background: This study investigates the effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in preventing deltoid atrophy during the first 12 weeks after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. Methods: Eighteen patients undergoing arthroscopic repair of a medium-sized rotator cuff tear by a single surgeon, were randomized into two groups: NMES and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). Each group used the respective device for 6 weeks after surgery. Pain was measured at baseline, 6, and 12 weeks postoperatively, using the visual analogue scale (VAS); range of motion (ROM), abduction strength and functional scores were measured at baseline and 12 weeks postoperatively. Deltoid thickness and cross-sectional areas were measured using magnetic resonance imaging at 12 weeks postoperatively. Results: At 12 weeks post-surgery, no statistically significant difference was observed between the NMES and TENS groups in the pain VAS, the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand score, ROM, and abduction strength. Postoperative decrease in the thickness of the anterior, middle, and posterior deltoid, at the level just below the coracoid, was -2.5%, -0.7%, and -6.8%, respectively, in the NMES group, and -14.0%, -2.6%, and -8.2%, respectively, in the TENS group (p=0.016, p=0.677, and p=0.791, respectively). At the level of the inferior glenoid tubercle, postoperative decrease in area of the deltoid was -5.4% in the NMES group and -14.0% in the TENS group, which was significantly different (p=0.045). Conclusions: NMES has the potential for reducing deltoid atrophy after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, suggesting that NMES might help minimize postoperative atrophy after various shoulder surgeries.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제13권3호
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• pp.221-227
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• 2009

For successful restoration of visual function by a visual neural prosthesis such as retinal implant, electrical stimulation should evoke neural responses so that the informat.ion on visual input is properly represented. A stimulation strategy, which means a method for generating stimulation waveforms based on visual input, should be developed for this purpose. We proposed to use the decoding of visual input from retinal ganglion cell (RGC) responses for the evaluation of stimulus encoding strategy. This is based on the assumption that reliable encoding of visual information in RGC responses is required to enable successful visual perception. The main purpose of this study was to determine the influence of inter-dependence among stimulated RGCs activities on decoding accuracy. Light intensity variations were decoded from multiunit RGC spike trains using an optimal linear filter. More accurate decoding was possible when different types of RGCs were used together as input. Decoding accuracy was enhanced with independently firing RGCs compared to synchronously firing RGCs. This implies that stimulation of independently-firing RGCs and RGCs of different types may be beneficial for visual function restoration by retinal prosthesis.

• 한국소음진동공학회논문집
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.9-16
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• 2013

This paper experimentally deals with the excitation by functional electrical stimulus(FES) and the response of electromyo-potential at the muscles of antebrachial joint in a human body. The excitation of FES, which results in the contraction of the muscles and thus the flection of the joint, shows that the flection angle of the joint is proportional to the magnitude of the stimulus current. The response of electromyo-potential measured according to the FES shows the linearly-proportional relation between the joint torque and the electromyo-potential. The results can be used for active motion of joint rehabilitation.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.318-323
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• 2020

Objective: Reacquisition of motor functions following stroke depends on interhemispheric neural connections. The intervention highlighted in the present case is an insight for augmenting motor recovery by stimulating the lesioned area and adjacent areas governing the motor behaviour of an individual. The purpose of this study was to determine the changes in the motor and cognitive outcomes through multi target stimulation of cortical areas by application of multichannel transcranial direct current stimulation (M-tDCS) in a stroke survivor. Design: A case report. Methods: The patient was a participant of a trial registered with the clinical trial registry of India (CTRI/2020/01/022998). The patient was intervened with M-tDCS over the left primary motor cortex i.e. C3 point and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex i.e. F3 point with 0.5-2 mA intensity for the period of 20 minutes. SaeboFlex-assisted task-oriented training, functional electrical stimulation over the lower extremity (LE) to elicit dorsiflexion at the ankle and eversion of the foot, and conventional physiotherapy rehabilitation including a tailored exercise program were performed. Outcome assessment was done using the Fugl-Meyer assessment scale (FMA) for the upper and lower extremity (UE and LE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA), Wisconsin Gait Scale (WGS) and the Stroke Specific Quality of Life (SSQOL) measures. Assessment was taken at Day 0, 15 and 30 post intervention. Results: Improvement was observed in all the outcome measures i.e FMA (UE and LE), MOCA, SSQOL and WGS across the span of 4 weeks. Conclusions: M-tDCS induced improvement in motor functions of the UE and LE, gait parameters and cognitive functions of the patient.

• 전기학회논문지
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• 제56권5호
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• pp.990-992
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• 2007

The purpose of this study is to develop a practical gait-event detection system which is necessary for the FES (functional electrical stimulation) control of locomotion in paralyzed patients. The system is comprised of a sensor board and an event recognition algorithm. We focused on the practicality improvement of the system through 1) using accelerometer to get the angle of shank and dispensing with the foot-switches having limitation in indoor or barefoot usage and 2) using a rule-base instead of threshold to determine the heel-off/heel-strike events corresponding the stimulation on/off timing. The sensor signals are transmitted through RF communication and gait-events was detected using the peaks in shank angle. The system could detect two critical gait-events in all five paralyzed patients. The standard deviation of the gait events time from the peaks were smaller when 1.5Hz cutoff frequency was used in the derivation of the shank angle from the acceleration signals.