Effects of walking-pattern-based functional electrical stimulation on somatosensory evoked potentials in healthy young subjects / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the effects on somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) of multichannel functional electrical stimulation (FES) of the legs based on a normal walking pattern,and to compare the effects with two-channel functional electrical stimulation.Methods Thirteen healthy young volunteers (6males and 7 females) were randomly assigned to receive 2 sessions of either two-channel FES for 30 minutes or four-channel FES for 15min with a 3-day interval between the two treatment sessions.The latencies and amplitudes of the N9 and P40 SEPs were recorded before and after every treatment.All the treatments were carried out on the right lower limbs.Results Thirteen healthy young volunteers (6males and 7 females) were randomly assigned to receive 2 sessions of either two-channel FES for 30 minutes or four-channel FES for 15 min with a 3-day interval between the two treatment sessions.The latencies and amplitudes of the N9 and P40 SEPs were recorded before and after every treatment.All the treatments were carried out on the right lower limbs.Conclusions The N9 latency with four-channel FES is remarkably shorter than that with two-channel FES on the legs of healthy young subjects,suggesting that multichannel functional electrical stimulation based on the normal human walking pattern can activate brain cells faster.