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Modeling biological motor control for human locomotion with functional electrical stimulation

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Abstract

This paper develops a novel control system for functional electrical stimulation (FES) locomotion, which aims to generate normal locomotion for paraplegics via FES. It explores the possibility of applying ideas from biology to engineering. The neural control mechanism of the biological motor system, the central pattern generator, has been adopted in the control system design. Some artificial control techniques such as neural network control, fuzzy logic, control and impedance control are incorporated to refine the control performance. Several types of sensory feedback are integrated to endow this control system with an adaptive ability. A musculoskeletal model with 7 segments and 18 muscles is constructed for the simulation study. Satisfactory simulation results are achieved under this FES control system, which indicates a promising technique for the potential application of FES locomotion in future.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomedical Instrumentation Lab, S2.1-B4-02, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 639798, Singapore

    Dingguo Zhang & Kuanyi Zhu

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  1. Dingguo Zhang
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  2. Kuanyi Zhu
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Correspondence to Dingguo Zhang.

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Zhang, D., Zhu, K. Modeling biological motor control for human locomotion with functional electrical stimulation. Biol Cybern 96, 79–97 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-006-0107-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-006-0107-3

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