A Control Scheme That Uses Dynamic Postural Synergies to Coordinate a Hybrid Walking Neuroprosthesis: Theory and Experiments.

A hybrid walking neuroprosthesis that combines functional electrical stimulation (FES) with a powered lower limb exoskeleton can be used to restore walking in persons with paraplegia. It provides therapeutic benefits of FES and torque reliability of the powered exoskeleton. Moreover, by harnessing metabolic power of muscles via FES, the hybrid combination has a potential to lower power consumption and reduce actuator size in the powered exoskeleton.

A Modified Dynamic Surface Controller for Delayed Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation.

A widely accepted model of muscle force generation during neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) is a second-order nonlinear musculoskeletal dynamics cascaded to a delayed first-order muscle activation dynamics. However, most nonlinear NMES control methods have either neglected the muscle activation dynamics or used an ad hoc strategies to tackle the muscle activation dynamics, which may not guarantee control stability. We hypothesized that a nonlinear control design that includes muscle activation dynamics can improve the control performance.

Bilateral Control of Functional Electrical Stimulation and Robotics-based Telerehabilitation.

Currently a telerehabilitation system includes a therapist and a patient where the therapist interacts with the patient, typically via a verbal and visual communication, for assessment and supervision of rehabilitation interventions. This mechanism often fails to provide physical assistance, which is a modus operandi during physical therapy or occupational therapy. Incorporating an actuation modality such as functional electrical stimulation (FES) or a robot at the patient's end that can be controlled by a therapist remotely, to provide therapy or to assess and measure rehabilitation outcomes can significantly transform current telerehabilitation technology.

Model-Based Dynamic Control Allocation in a Hybrid Neuroprosthesis.

A hybrid neuroprosthesis that combines human muscle power, elicited through functional electrical stimulation (FES), with a powered orthosis may be advantageous over a sole FES or a powered exoskeleton-based rehabilitation system. The hybrid system can conceivably overcome torque reduction due to FES-induced muscle fatigue by complementarily using torque from the powered exoskeleton. The second advantage of the hybrid system is that the use of human muscle power can supplement the powered exoskeleton's power (motor torque) requirements; thus, potentially reducing the size and weight of a walking restoration system.

A Muscle Synergy-Inspired Adaptive Control Scheme for a Hybrid Walking Neuroprosthesis.

A hybrid neuroprosthesis that uses an electric motor-based wearable exoskeleton and functional electrical stimulation (FES) has a promising potential to restore walking in persons with paraplegia. A hybrid actuation structure introduces effector redundancy, making its automatic control a challenging task because multiple muscles and additional electric motor need to be coordinated. Inspired by the muscle synergy principle, we designed a low dimensional controller to control multiple effectors: FES of multiple muscles and electric motors.

Further Results on Predictor-Based Control of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation.

Electromechanical delay (EMD) and uncertain nonlinear muscle dynamics can cause destabilizing effects and performance loss during closed-loop control of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES). Linear control methods for NMES often perform poorly due to these technical challenges. A new predictor-based closed-loop controller called proportional integral derivative controller with delay compensation (PID-DC) is presented in this paper.

A semi-active hybrid neuroprosthesis for restoring lower limb function in paraplegics.

Through the application of functional electrical stimulation (FES) individuals with paraplegia can regain lost walking function. However, due to the rapid onset of muscle fatigue, the walking duration obtained with an FES-based neuroprosthesis is often relatively short. The rapid muscle fatigue can be compensated for by using a hybrid system that uses both FES and an active orthosis.