Control of functional neuromuscular stimulation systems for standing and locomotion in paraplegics

Article Abstract:

Functional neuromuscular stimulation (FNS) is shown to be effective in providing individuals with paralysis of the lower extremities with a currently limited ability to stand, walk, climb, and descend. A computer-controlled system is developed and tested at the Cleveland VA Medical Center Motion Study Laboratory and Case Western Reserve University which provides direct electrical stimulation of paralyzed muscles. The system is composed of command and control units, stimulators attached to implanted electrodes, sensors, and a system-to-patient interface. Orthotics may provide additional support. Details of the development and utilization of the system are described. The systems are some years from full deployment, as improvements in ease of use, functionality, reliability, safety, and appearance must be made. Several FDA, social, and fiscal issues must also be resolved.

Systems analysis, Systems development, Evaluation, System Development, System Design, Physically Handicapped, Prosthetics

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On the use of pitch power spectrum in the evaluation of vocal tremor

Article Abstract:

Several neurophysiological disabilities induce a tremor of the vocal folds, and a new technique is developed to extract tremor frequency and intensity during the utterance of sustained vowels as a possible diagnostic and clinical tool. The approach involves the extraction of the power spectrum of a vocal tremor from pitch and a trend algorithm that removes local trends to enable clean evaluation of the tremor power spectrum. The modeling of the pitch process and the removal of trends was validated on real data from patients with Parkinson's disease. Equations underlying the technique and experimental data are described.

Algorithms, Medical research, Algorithm, Sound processing, Applications, Simulation

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