A test of controlling different muscles in FES cycling with cycling wheelchair "Profhand"

The cycling wheelchair "Profhand" developed by our research group in Japan has been found to be useful in rehabilitation of motor function of lower limbs. The cycling wheelchair can also be applied to rehabilitation of paraplegic subjects by controlling lower limbs with FES. In this paper, FES control without stimulation to the gluteus maximus and that with stimulation to the tibialis anterior were tested for FES cycling with Profhand with healthy subjects, because cycling speed was low and not stable in our previous study and there was a difficulty in setting stimulation electrodes to the gluteus maximus. Stimulation to the quadriceps femoris, the gluteus maximus and the tibialis anterior showed the highest cycling speed. FES control without stimulation to the gluteus maximus was also possible to propel Profhand. Since effective muscle was different between individuals, it is preferable to select muscle group based on the patient's condition. Although stimulation to the tibialis anterior could be useful, it is necessary to study appropriate stimulation timing of each muscle.