SENSOR TELEMETRY FOR FUNCTIONAL ELECTRICAL STIMULATION

A DIGITAL RADIO FREQUENCY (RF) TELEMETER WILL BE DEVELOPED TO TRANSMIT WIRELESSLY SENSOR SIGNALS TO THE EXTERNAL CONTROL UNIT OF A FUNCTIONAL ELECTRICAL STIMULATION (FES) SYSTEM. THE TELEMETRY LINK WILL ELIMINATE THE CUMBERSOME, PRONE-TO-BREAKAGE AND COSMETICALLY-UNACCEPTABLE WIRING THAT HAS BEEN EMPLOYED IN EXISTING FES SYSTEMS TO INTERCONNECT THE COMMAND/FEEDBACK SENSORS, MOUNTED NEAR BODY EXTREMITIES, TO THE CONTROL UNIT WORN ON THE WAIST BELT. THIS ADDITION OF A CONVENIENT, RELIABLE AND INVISIBLE SENSOR-CONTROLLER LINK WILL ENHANCE THE PATIENT-ACCEPTABILITY OF CURRENT FES TECHNOLOGY AND IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR THE LARGE POPULATION SUFFERING FROM SPINAL CORD INJURY, STROKE AND OTHER NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS. DURING PHASE I, A PROTOTYPE TELEMETER WILL BE DEVELOPED WHICH INCORPORATES DIGITAL CODING AND MODULATION TECHNIQUES TO MAXIMIZE THE SYSTEM'S IMMUNITY TO ELECTOMAGNETIC INTERFERNECE AND THUS ENSURE RELIABLE OPERATION IN THE ELCTRICALLY-NOISY ENVIRONMENT OF FES APPLICATIONS. THE ISSUES OF MULTI-TELEMEETER CONFIGURATION, EFFECTS OF BODY ON RF TRANSMISSION, INTERFACES WITH OTHER FES SYSTEM COMPONENTS AND POWER-SAVING TECHNIQUE WILL ALSO BE INVESTIGATED. THE PROTOTYPE DEVICE WILL BE EVALUATED IN A SIMULATED FES CLINICAL ENVIRONMENT TO QUANTIFY PERFORMANCE AND IDENTIFY PROBLEMS TO BE ADDRESSED IN PHASE II. HIGH-DENSITY PACKAGING AND HUMAN-ENGINEERING DESIGN WILL ALSO BE IMPLEMENTED IN PHASE II DEVELOPMENT.