ICEP: An Instrumented Cycling Ergometer Platform for the Assessment of Advanced FES Strategies.

BACKGROUND: Functional electrical stimulation (FES) cycling has seen an upsurge in interest over the last decade. The present study describes the novel instrumented cycling ergometer platform designed to assess the efficiency of electrical stimulation strategies. The capabilities of the platform are showcased in an example determining the adequate stimulation patterns for reproducing a cycling movement of the paralyzed legs of a spinal cord injury (SCI) subject. METHODS: Two procedures have been followed to determine the stimulation patterns: (1) using the EMG recordings of the able-bodied subject; (2) using the recordings of the forces produced by the SCI subject's stimulated muscles. RESULTS: the stimulation pattern derived from the SCI subject's force output was found to produce 14% more power than the EMG-derived stimulation pattern. CONCLUSIONS: the cycling platform proved useful for determining and assessing stimulation patterns, and it can be used to further investigate advanced stimulation strategies.

Assessment of Spasticity by a Pendulum Test in SCI Patients Who Exercise FES Cycling or Receive Only Conventional Therapy.

Increased muscle tone and exaggerated tendon reflexes characterize most of the individuals after a spinal cord injury (SCI). We estimated seven parameters from the pendulum test and used them to compare with the Ashworth modified scale of spasticity grades in three populations (retrospective study) to assess their spasticity. Three ASIA B SCI patients who exercised on a stationary FES bicycle formed group F, six ASIA B SCI patients who received only conventional therapy were in the group C, and six healthy individuals constituted the group H. The parameters from the pendulum test were used to form a single measure, termed the PT score, for each subject. The pendulum test parameters show differences between the F and C groups, but not between the F and H groups, however, statistical significance was limited due to the small study size. Results show a small deviation from the mean for all parameters in the F group and substantial deviations from the mean for the parameters in the C group. PT scores show significant differences between the F and C groups and the C and H groups and no differences between the F and C groups. The correlation between the PT score and Ashworth score was 0.88.