Design of a Practical System Based on Muscle Synergy Analysis and FES Rehabilitation for Stroke Patients

Abstract

In the diagnosis and rehabilitation of motor function for stroke patients, the combination of motor function assessment based on Muscle Synergy Analysis (MSA) and rehabilitation using Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) is a new strategy, which has been validated its feasibility and superiority in clinical rehabilitation. However, it is difficult to be extended to a larger patient population because of low equipment integration, high cost, and complicated operation. This paper designed a hardware and software integrated system for MSA and FES, to achieve functional integration, portability, and simplicity of operation. The hardware system implements multi-channel sEMG acquisition and FES. The software system achieves device control, data processing, and algorithm analysis with a simple and clear user interface. The functions of the system were preliminarily validated by the data of healthy people. This system solves the current problems of equipment function separation and complicated data processing. It realizes the integration of diagnosis and rehabilitation processes, and helps to promote the further development and application of stroke intelligent rehabilitation system.