A study on portable functional electrical device for small muscles

Abstract

Loss of motor functions of the upper and lower extremities, especially the small muscles is a common medical problem that needs attention. It happens as a consequence of spinal cord injuries, strokes, cerebral palsies and so forth. Several attempts from the biomedical engineering perspective have been made to revive such motor losses. Functional electrical stimulation is one of the much talked methods and has been widely used in restoring motor function of the limbs to an extent. This study proposes a design of a portable device for transcutaneous stimulation of small muscles of hand. Such a design could be useful in recovering the motor functions of the hands.