PREPARATORY ADJUSTMENTS FOR IMPROVED STANDING WITH FNS

描述：(改编自调查者摘要)这项计划的长期目标 研究旨在开发实用的功能性神经肌肉刺激(FNS) 用于恢复神经受损个体的运动功能的系统。 FNS已经被用来恢复人的站立、行走和机动能力 脊髓损伤(SCI)和其他神经疾病损害 腿部功能恢复。研究结果令人鼓舞，但水平较低 肢体FNS系统尚未被证明在临床上可行，主要原因是 已经恢复的有限程度的功能。 调查人员将开发和评估一种提供FNS的系统 系统用户能够在执行以下操作之前进行两种类型的准备调整 执行任务：用户首先将脚放在合适的位置 然后用户会调整自己的姿势(即调整 骨盆相对于脚)。正确的脚部位置在站立中的作用 没有被很好地描述，也没有在FNS控制中被利用 系统设计。大部分的努力将集中在 研究脚部放置的作用和开发技术以实现 在FNS站姿中，脚的位置合适。将设施合并为 调整姿势一旦双脚就位，调查人员将利用 并以他们正在进行的努力的结果为基础 实现在线姿势调整的技术。 在这个项目完成后，他们计划成功地开发和 实施了一种新的控制系统，以进行FNS的准备调整 站稳脚跟，并展示了此功能所提供的好处 系统。为此，他们提出了一项协调一致的努力，将利用 具有详细生物力学模型的计算机模拟，实验 健全的个体，以及几套脊髓损伤的实验 使用FNS系统站立的受试者。

DESCRIPTION: (adapted from Investigator's abstract) The long term goals of this research is to develop practical Functional Neuromuscular Stimulation (FNS) systems for restoring motor function in neurologically-impaired individuals. FNS has been used to restore the ability to stand, step and maneuver in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) and other neurological disorders that impair lower extremity function. Research results have been encouraging, but lower extremity FNS systems have not yet proven to be clinically viable primarily due to the limited degree of function that has been restored. The investigators will develop and evaluate a system that provides the FNS system user the ability to make two types of preparatory adjustments prior to performing a task: the user will first place their feet in a suitable location and then the user will adjust their posture (i.e. adjust the location of the pelvis with respect to the feet). The role of proper foot placement in standing has not been well characterized, nor has it been exploited in FNS control system design. The majority of the effort will be directed towards investigating the role of foot placement and developing techniques to achieve suitable foot placement in FNS stance. To incorporate the facility for adjusting posture once the feet are in place, the investigators will utilize and build upon the results of their on-going efforts in which they are implementing techniques for on-line postural adjustments. At the completion of this project, they plan to have successfully developed and implemented a novel control system for making preparatory adjustments in FNS standing and to have demonstrated the functional benefits provided by this system. Towards this end, they propose a coordinated effort that will utilize computer simulations with detailed biomechanical models, experiments on able-bodied individuals, and several sets of experiments on spinal cord injured subjects who are standing using FNS systems.