Dual-channel functional electrical stimulation (FES) that activated the dorsiflexors and hamstring muscles was shown to improve walking capabilities in 36 research participants with chronic foot drop and knee and/or hip control deficits resulting from hemiparesis, regardless of their initial walking speed, according to research conducted in Israel. Further, the gains may be large enough to change an individual’s ambulation status to a higher functional category.
The study, published February 28 in Clinical Interventions in Aging, categorized the participants into one of three groups based on their beginning walking speed, and documented improvement in each group after the dual-channel FES treatment. Those with limited household ambulation improved their gait speed by 63.3 percent (from 0.30 ± 0.09 m/sec to 0.49 ± 0.20 m/sec; P < 0.01), while subjects with community ambulation capabilities improved their gait speed by 25.5 percent (from 0.90 ± 0.11 m/sec to 1.13 ± 0.22 m/sec; P < 0.01). The data was based on a two-minute walk test with and without stimulation, and a second assessment after six weeks of daily FES treatment.
