Functional electrical stimulation (FES) aims to restore function in people with disabilities resulting from spinal cord injury, head injury, stroke or other neurological disorders by electrical stimulation of the muscles and nerves. Restoration of limb function is a main application of FES, for example allowing people with paraplegia to stand, or giving people with quadriplegia hand grasp function, but regulation of organ function is also important. For example, FES can be used to control bowel and bladder function in people with high-level spinal cord injury (SCI).
Functional restoration, also known as functionalelectricalstimulation (FES) or function neuromuscular stimulation (FNS), involves the user wearing a device, called a neuroprosthesis, to achieve a particular function.
A pair of small electrodes may be placed near the nerve (bipolar stimulation) or a large reference (indifferent) electrode may be placed at a distance from the nerve with a smaller, closer active electrode (monopolar stimulation).
Current, rather than voltage, controlled stimulators are used as impedance may increase as a surface electrode becomes detached or an implanted electrode is surrounded by a sheath of fibrous tissue.
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