Effects of Functional Electrical Stimulation on Upper-Limb Performance in Stoke Survivors

MacKenzie Barr* (1), Ariel B. Thomas (2), and Valeriya Gritsenko (2,3)

School of Medicine, Division of Exercise Physiology (1), Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Department of Neuroscience (2), School of Medicine, Division of Physical Therapy (3), West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506

Presentation Category: Health Sciences (Poster Presentation #121)

Student’s Major: Exercise Physiology

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is the artificial stimulation of muscles that causes muscular contractions intended to produce or assist with movement. Although it has been used for decades as a rehabilitative treatment for stroke, the performance of the hand when using FES to assist with shoulder mobility is less clear. This study aims to determine if the use of FES on the shoulder improves upper-limb performance for stroke survivors in a reach-and-grasp task. Four chronically motor impaired stroke survivors and twenty healthy control participants were recruited. Subjects completed a forward and lateral reaching task within Virtual Reality, with and without assistive FES. The anterior deltoid was stimulated during the forward reaching task (80 total repetitions) and the medial deltoid was stimulated during the lateral reaching task (80 total repetitions). Non-stimulation task trials were instructed as 40 repetitions to each forward and lateral target before and after stimulation trials. Data was collected using electromyography and motion capture of the trunk, arm, and hand. Grasping ability of the hand was analyzed and compared between stroke survivors and control subjects in FES and non-FES conditions. Preliminary electromyography data shows decreased spasticity of the muscles responsible for grasping when assistive FES is used in stroke patients. Spasticity, or continuous muscular contraction, can make movement difficult and painful. We suggest that assistive FES of the shoulder could be used to alleviate spasticity and increase grasping mobility of stroke survivors.

Funding: NIGMS

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) & accompanying HONR 297-level course, First2 Network