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It is possible to replace amputated limbs with mechatronic prostheses, but their operation requires the user's intentions to be detected and converted into control signals to the actuators. Fortunately, the motoneurons (MNs) that controlled the amputated muscles remain intact and capable of generating electrical signals, but these signals are difficult to record. Even the latest microelectrode array technologies and targeted motor reinnervation can provide only sparse sampling of the hundreds of motor units that comprise the motor pool for each muscle. Simple rectification and integration of such records is likely to produce noisy and delayed estimates of the actual intentions of the user. We have developed a novel algorithm for optimal estimation of motor pool excitation based on the recruitment and firing rates of a small number (2-10) of discriminated motor units. We first derived the motor estimation algorithm from normal patterns of modulated MN activity based on a previously published model of individual MN recruitment and asynchronous frequency modulation. The algorithm was then validated on a target motor reinnervation subject using intramuscular fine-wire recordings to obtain single motor units.

During quiet standing, humans tend to sway with a distinctive pattern that has been difficult to capture with simple engineering models. We have developed a nonlinear optimal control model for posture regulation. The proposed model consists of two main components: body dynamics and performance measure. The body dynamics are those of a double inverted pendulum in the sagittal plane controlled by ankle and hip torques. The performance measure is nonlinear quartic in the center of pressure and quadratic in the controls. Realistic values for both sensory and motor delays are included in the dynamic model. This nonlinear quartic regulator problem is solved approximately by the model predictive control technique. The resulting feedback control replicates both the experimentally observed sway and the coordinated nonlinear response. It should also use less muscular energy than other comparable controls. The method can easily be extended to more complex models of posture regulation.

A bionic neuron (BION) is an inductively powered, miniature implant developed for functional electric stimulation (FES) to reanimate paralyzed limbs. This paper investigates the possibility of reusing the BION antenna coil as a magnetic sensor to provide meaningful posture information for feedback control of FES. A variety of techniques have been developed to model and cancel nonideal effects caused by the shapes of the internal and external coils, ferrite material, and electronic connections. Field warping has been employed to both amplitude and direction to achieve more accurate description of the dipole magnetic field generated by external coils suitable for generating a reference magnetic frame in the environment of a wheelchair. Models of the transmitting coil and the receiving BION coil were validated against experimental data, providing a solid foundation for implementing a sensor system. Based on the established model, a magnetic sensing system combined with customized microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS) accelerometer has been designed and tested as a prototype on the bench. The sensor output can be employed to compute 6-D position and orientation. A two-step algorithm integrated with multiple error-cancelling techniques demonstrated sufficient accuracy in bench tests to appear promising for control of reach-and-grasp tasks. A sensor fusion step is proposed to estimate the position and orientation of a limb segment using data from multiple implants in muscles, where they will also function as neuromuscular stimulators to produce the movements to be controlled.

Building and testing novel prosthetic limbs and control algorithms for functional electrical stimulation (FES) is expensive and risky. Here, we describe a virtual reality environment (VRE) to facilitate and accelerate the development of novel systems. In the VRE, subjects/patients can operate a simulated limb to interact with virtual objects. Realistic models of all relevant musculoskeletal and mechatronic components allow the development of entire prosthetic systems in VR before introducing them to the patient. The system is used both by engineers as a development tool and by clinicians to fit prosthetic devices to patients.

The goal of this study was to test the feasibility and efficacy of using microstimulators (BIONs/spl trade/) to correct foot drop, the first human application of BIONs in functional electrical stimulation (FES). A prototype BIONic foot drop stimulator was developed by modifying a WalkAide2 stimulator to control BION stimulation of the ankle dorsiflexor muscles. BION stimulation was compared with surface stimulation of the common peroneal nerve provided by a normal WalkAide2 foot drop stimulator. Compared to surface stimulation, we found that BION stimulation of the deep peroneal nerve produces a more balanced ankle flexion movement without everting the foot. A 3-D motion analysis was performed to measure the ankle and foot kinematics with and without stimulation. Without stimulation, the toe on the affected leg drags across the ground. The BIONic WalkAide elevates the foot such that the toe clears the ground by 3 cm, which is equivalent to the toe clearance in the unaffected leg. The physiological cost index (PCI) was used to measure effort during walking. The PCI is high without stimulation (2.29 /spl plusmn/ 0.37; mean /spl plusmn/ S.D.) and greatly reduced with surface (1.29 /spl plusmn/ 0.10) and BION stimulation (1.46 /spl plusmn/ 0.24). Also, walking speed is increased from 9.4 /spl plusmn/ 0.4 m/min. without stimulation to 19.6 /spl plusmn/ 2.0 m/min. with surface and 17.8 /spl plusmn/ 0.7 m/min. with BION stimulation. We conclude that functional electrical stimulation with BIONs is a practical alternative to surface stimulation and provides more selective control of muscle activation.

When muscles lose neural drive, they atrophy rapidly. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMS) has been used in attempts to prevent or reverse the atrophy, but optimal stimulation programs and parameters are not well defined. In this study, we investigated the effects of four different stimulation patterns on disuse atrophy produced in the tibialis anterior, lateral gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles of rats paralyzed with tetrodotoxin for seven days. Stimulation paradigms differed from one another by their stimulation frequency (2 or 10 pulses/s) and by their stimulation period (2 or 10 h a day). Results showed that stimulation with 2 pulses/s, paradigms were more effective at preventing disuse muscle atrophy than higher-frequency stimulation. The most marked difference was in the slow soleus muscle, which had only 10% mean atrophy when stimulated at 2 pulses/s for 10 h, compared to 26% atrophy when stimulated at 10 pulses/s for either 2 or 10 h and 32% atrophy in unstimulated, paralyzed controls. The level of atrophic change was not correlated with the levels of serum creatine kinase, used as an index of muscle damage. Results suggest that remediation of disuse atrophy may be accomplished using unphysiologically low rates of motor-unit activation despite the relatively low force produced by such unfused contractions. This may have significant implications for the design of therapies for muscle paralysis consequent to upper-motoneuron lesions.

Previous studies have shown that immobilization causes muscle atrophy and that the rate of atrophy depends on the length at which the muscle is immobilized. However, most studies have been carried out in neurologically intact animals that were capable of generating at least some voluntary muscle activation. In this study, tetrodotoxin was applied chronically to the rat sciatic nerve to produce complete paralysis of distal muscles for seven days, and the ankle was immobilized to hold the muscles at long or short lengths. Paralysis without immobilization resulted in relative weight losses of 36% for soleus, 19% for tibialis anterior (TA), and 17% for lateral gastrocnemius (LG) muscles. Casting the ankle in plantarflexion stretched TA and reduced its weight loss to 10%. Soleus and LG were shortened by this intervention and had increased losses of 43% and 28%, respectively. Fixing the limb in dorsiflexion resulted in a posture similar to that adopted by the unrestrained rats and had no significant effect on the amount of muscle atrophy compared to that in unrestrained paralyzed animals.