FES Control of Reach and Grasp Movements


FES Control

Overview
BION®s are a new class of neural prosthetic interfaces that can support many clinical applications of therapeutic and functional electrical stimulation.   Restoration of functional movements such as reach and grasp, however, requires precise control of many muscles that is a challenging control problem.

We are using both model-based analysis and experimental studies to design and evaluate FES controllers for reach and grasp movements.  We are interested in biomimetic FES controllers with hierarchical structure similar to that of the central nervous system.  Currently two studies are underway to test the critical components of the biomimetic control system.  In the first study, we investigate the control properties of spinal-like regulators as low-level controllers that provide rapid local regulation of stiffness and simplify the control task for the higher level controllers.  In the second study, we use a virtual reality environment to study the dynamics of interactions between the residual voluntary control and the proposed FES system.  Able-bodied subjects use the movement of their upper arm to drive a simulated lower arm under FES control to make it follow normal reaching synergies.

Questions/Comments
For questions or comments regarding the FES control project, please contact Rahman Davoodi (davoodi@usc.edu) or Gerald E. Loeb (gloeb@usc.edu).


Alfred Mann Institute University of Southern California