FUNCTIONAL ELECTRICAL STIMULATION (FES) STUDY FOR FOOT DROP REHABILITATION BY ARDUINO NANO ATMEGA328P

• Main Author: MUHAMMAD NAZREEN, ULIA @ MOHD SAZALI
• Format: Final Year Project Report
• Language: English; English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2022
• Subjects: RA Public aspects of medicine
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/40120/1/Muhammad%20Nazreen%20Bin%20Ulia%20%40%20Mohd%20Sazali%2024pgs.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/40120/4/Muhammad%20Nazreen.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/40120/

A foot drop occurs when a person is unable to lift the front of their foot because the muscles in their foot are either too weak or too paralyzed to do so. The tibialis anterior (TA), the extensor hallucis longus (EHL), and the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) are the three muscles that are damaged by this condition. Electromyography is used to record the activity of the muscles (EMG). It is based on the observation that when a muscle contracts, blood flow increases to that muscle. This project proposed the design of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) device with a microcontroller, Arduino Nano ATmega328p, and a Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) unit. This device allows a person with foot drop to have access to an FES device at a price that is more affordable. A real-time EMG signal of TA muscle is acquired and filtered directly using 2nd order low pass Butterworth filter to clean the signal. The FES device will focus on the muscle problem that the foot drop which is the tibialis anterior (TA). The next stage is performing research on the detection and classification technique of EMG. The techniques are various and choosing the suitable technique can aid in the preprocessing of the raw signal. The microcontroller will be programmed and respond accordingly based on the preprocessed EMG signal. Tests will evaluate the accuracy and runtime of the device in detecting and activating the muscle. Four subjects are chosen with diverse characteristics including age, weight, height and body mass index (BMI). As a whole, this research has resulted in the FES device a successful implementation because the TENS delivers a shock to the TA when it is relaxing and turns off when it is contracting.