Restoration of standing, weight-shift and gait by multichannel electrical stimulation in hemiparetic patients

Abstract

The effects of multichannel electrical stimulation of standing, weight-shift and gait were studied in hemiparetic patients. The ground reaction forces under both feet were assessed by two force plates during standing and weight-shift of 11 patients with and without three-channel stimulation of the pelvic and knee muscles. Stance symmetry and rate of the weight-shift significantly improved (p = 0.05) for 11.4% and 50.8% respectively during the stimulation. The gait of three hemiparetic patients was treated by adaptable, individually fitted four-channel stimulation. Besides peroneal nerve, knee extensor and flexor, hip extensor and abductor muscles, a shoulder-arm stimulation was introduced to elevate a depressed shoulder, initiate arm swing and erect the trunk. Gait parameters including symmetry improved consistently after the 25 stimulation sessions: velocity 33%, cadence 5%, stride length 26%, stance symmetry ratio from 0.62 to 0.97. Moreover the gait pattern was restored in all patients. The study investigated a possibility of neurophysiologically based treatment by the stimulation of standing, weight-shift and gait.