CN102526874A - Wearable auxiliary electrical stimulation system capable of precisely controlling finger movement - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a wearable auxiliary electrical stimulation system for precisely controlling finger activities, comprising an electrical stimulation pulse output device and a wearable structure, wherein the electrical stimulation pulse output device is connected to the wearable structure; the electrical stimulation pulse output device receives The command input of the control side generates corresponding electrical stimulation pulses; the wearable structure is connected to the skin of the forearm and outputs electrical stimulation pulses to control the contraction of skeletal muscles. The present invention improves the existing electrical stimulation mode, increases the stimulation accuracy, and can accurately control the interphalangeal joint activities of each finger. It does not have basic actions such as gripping claws by stimulating large-area muscle groups, and can also perform fine stimulation on forearm muscle groups. , to control the activities of each finger or to make different gestures; when the patient wears this auxiliary system, no drug treatment and pre-training are required, and a relatively complex finger activity can be completed by relying on a specific electrical stimulation mode; the invention is convenient and easy to use, safe and effective , the cost is lower.

Description

Wearable Assisted Electrical Stimulation System for Precisely Controlling Finger Movements

technical field

The invention relates to a system in the field of auxiliary medical technology, in particular to a wearable auxiliary electrical stimulation system for precisely controlling finger activities.

Background technique

According to the statistics of the World Health Organization, there are 13.2437 million people suffering from spinal cord diseases in the world, and there are 11,000 new cases of spinal cord injuries in the United States every year. According to incomplete statistics, there are 1.1 million people with various types of spinal cord injuries in mainland China. This number is still on the rise. After spinal cord injury, although the muscles of paralyzed patients still have contraction function, they lose the ability of voluntary movement because the nerve pathway between the brain and muscles is cut off. In addition to spinal cord diseases, neurological diseases such as stroke (stroke) also produce a large number of paralyzed patients. Among the sports assisting systems for paralyzed patients currently on the market, the more popular electrical stimulation therapy device uses artificial weak current pulse signals to stimulate the skeletal muscles of the paralyzed patients, thereby causing the patient's skeletal muscles to contract and the limbs to produce desired movements. However, the current surface electrical stimulation system can only stimulate large muscles to realize basic rough movements such as flexion and extension of upper limbs, grasping, walking and standing of lower limbs. The muscles responsible for finger movement control in the human body are relatively slender and closely arranged, so precise artificial electrical stimulation control of finger movement has not yet been realized. However, the movement of fingers is particularly important for patients. If patients are expected to continue fine activities (such as writing, typing, gesturing, playing musical instruments, etc.), precise control of the interphalangeal joints and related muscles is required. In addition, due to the different body sizes of patients, it is difficult to determine the patch position for electrical stimulation, which needs to be set individually for each patient. The present invention will solve the above-mentioned problems.

With the advancement of science and technology, many countries and companies have developed commercial products based on functional electrical stimulation. Such as NESSH200 Hand Rehabilitation System. However, although this system can help patients to perform actions such as gripping claws and flipping palms, the precise control of fingers has not been realized, and the function is relatively single, which cannot make the finger activities reach the desired flexibility.

After searching the existing literature, it is found that the existing functional electrical stimulation auxiliary systems basically use larger-sized electrode patches for control, which limits the control accuracy, and the single fixed electrical stimulation mode also makes the Related functions cannot be expanded.

Contents of the invention

The present invention aims at the above-mentioned deficiencies in the prior art, and provides a wearable auxiliary electrical stimulation system that precisely controls finger activities. . The invention realizes the precise control of the fingers of the paralyzed patient by providing a finer stimulation mode, thereby helping the patient to move each finger independently without the training of a physiotherapist.

The present invention is achieved through the following technical solutions:

A wearable auxiliary electrical stimulation system for precisely controlling finger activities, characterized in that it includes an electrical stimulation pulse output device and a wearable structure, wherein the electrical stimulation pulse output device is connected to the wearable structure;

- The electrical stimulation pulse output device receives the command input from the controller to generate corresponding electrical stimulation pulses;

-Wearable structure, connected with forearm skin and output electrical stimulation pulse to control skeletal muscle contraction.

The electrical stimulation pulse output device includes: a command receiver, a controller and an electrical stimulator, wherein the command receiver is connected to the controller and transmits action instructions, and the controller is connected to the electrical stimulator and transmits electrical stimulation mode information, An electrical stimulator is connected to the wearable structure and delivers electrical stimulation pulses.

The action instruction has a corresponding relationship with the electrical stimulation mode information;

The corresponding relationship is: after the controller analyzes the action command, simultaneously selects several pairs of wearable electrode patches and adjusts the input electrical stimulation pulse characteristics of each pair of electrode patches, and relatively independently controls the deep flexor muscles and superficial flexor muscles of the forearm. The contraction of muscles and extensor muscles and the bending angle of each interphalangeal joint control the activities of each finger or specific gestures.

The wearable structure includes: several pairs of electrode patches and special fixing straps, wherein the electrode patches are respectively connected with the special fixing straps and the electrical stimulator of the electrical stimulation pulse output device.

The wearable structure also includes an electrode snap-in buckle, and the electrode patch is fixedly connected with a special fixing strap through the electrode snap-in snap.

There are two special fixed straps, which are respectively placed on the proximal end and the far end of the forearm as positive and negative electrode straps.

The electrode patch is a reusable gel electrode patch.

The specification of the gel electrode patch is 20mm×35mm.

Compared with the existing technology, the beneficial effect of the present invention is: the control precision of the electrical stimulation pulse is improved, not only can realize the rough expected action control through the stimulation of large-area muscle groups, but also can control the interphalangeal joints of the fingers. Get fine-grained and sophisticated controls. It greatly helps paralyzed patients to flexibly control and use their fingers, and can perform related activities that require high finger flexibility, such as writing, playing musical instruments, and gestures. At the same time, it can maintain the vitality of the finger muscles at different depths of the patient, prevent muscle atrophy, reduce spasm, and make the patient's rehabilitation effect more ideal. In addition, the special design of the wearable structure and the detachable electrode patch also enables the present invention to be easily and conveniently adjusted, so that it is suitable for wearing by patients of different sizes.

Description of drawings

Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of the auxiliary system;

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the electrode patch;

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a wearable structure;

In the figure, 3 is a special fixed strap, 4 is a gel electrode patch, and 5 is an electrode buckle;

Figure 4 is a schematic structural diagram of the auxiliary system;

In the figure, 1 is an electrical stimulation pulse output device; 2 is a wearable structure;

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of precise control of functional electrical stimulation;

In the figure, 6 is an electrode patch, 7 is a muscle, 8 is a positive (negative) electrode band, and 9 is a negative (positive) electrode band.

Detailed ways

The embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below: the present embodiment is implemented under the premise of the technical solution of the present invention, and detailed implementation and specific operation process are provided, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the following implementation example.

The wearable auxiliary electrical stimulation system provided in this embodiment to precisely control finger activities is used to precisely control the bending, stretching and simple gestures of each finger on the palm.

As shown in Figures 1 and 4, the wearable auxiliary electrical stimulation system for precisely controlling finger activities provided by this embodiment includes: an electrical stimulation pulse output device 1 and a wearable structure 2, wherein: the electrical stimulation pulse output device and the wearable structure The electrical stimulation pulse output device receives the command input from the controller to generate corresponding electrical stimulation pulses, and the wearable structure is connected to the skin of the forearm and outputs electrical stimulation pulses to control skeletal muscle contraction.

The electrical stimulation pulse output device includes: a command receiver, a controller and an electrical stimulator, wherein: the command receiver is connected to the controller to transmit action instructions, the controller is connected to the electrical stimulator to transmit specific electrical stimulation mode information, and the electrical stimulator It is connected with each pair of electrode patches of the wearable structure to transmit electrical stimulation pulses.

There is a corresponding relationship between the action command and the electrical stimulation mode information; the corresponding relationship is: after the controller analyzes the action command, it simultaneously selects several pairs of wearable electrode patches and adjusts the input electrical stimulation pulse characteristics of each pair of electrode patches, which are relatively independent It precisely controls the contraction of the deep flexor, superficial flexor, and extensor muscles of the forearm and the bending angle of each interphalangeal joint, thereby controlling the activities of each finger or specific gestures.

The electrical stimulator and controller are Compex Motion II from Switzerland.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the wearable structure includes: several counter electrode patches 6 and two special fixing straps 3 . Wherein: the electrode patch 6 is connected with the electric stimulator of the electric stimulation pulse output device 1, and transmits the electric stimulation pulse, and the special fixed strap 3 is connected with the electrode patch 6, and the position of the electrode patch 6 is fixed and fixed. Adjustment; two special fixed straps 3 are respectively placed on the proximal and distal ends of the forearm as positive and negative electrode straps, as shown in Figure 5, 8 is the positive (negative) electrode strap, and 9 is the negative (positive) electrode strap Electrode straps.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the electrode patch 6 is a reusable gel electrode patch 4 with a specification of 20mm×35mm.

The wearable structure also includes the electrode buckle 5, the electrode patch 6 is tightly fixed on the special fixed strap 3 through the electrode buckle 5, and the other side is close to the surface of the skin, and the electrical stimulation signal is transmitted to the muscles of the forearm group.

As shown in Figure 5, the working process of the present embodiment comprises the following steps:

1. Connect the command receiver, controller, electric stimulator and wearable structure, select the appropriate number of electrode patch pairs according to the circumference of the arm, adjust the length of the two electrode straps, and wear them on the proximal end of the arm respectively And the distal end, as the positive and negative poles for electrical stimulation pulse input.

2. The input action command "middle finger" is analyzed and processed by the command receiver, and the corresponding electrical stimulation mode information is transmitted to the controller. The controller transmits the electrical stimulation pulse output signal to the electrical stimulator by analyzing the stimulation mode information.

3. After the electric stimulator receives the electric stimulation pulse signal, it transmits the electric stimulation pulse to the electrode patch of the wearable structure, respectively, so that the electrode patches corresponding to the deep flexor muscle and the superficial flexor muscle of the middle finger receive the electric stimulation pulse.

4. The electrode patch of the wearable structure transmits electrical stimulation pulses to the skeletal muscles of the forearm. The deep and superficial flexor muscles that control the bending of the middle finger are electrically stimulated, the skeletal muscles contract, the interphalangeal joints of the middle finger bend, and the desired action is produced. bending. In addition, due to the small electrical stimulation area of the electrode patch and the precise stimulation of the muscle groups through the specific electrical stimulation mode, the knuckle joints of other fingers did not produce significant bending at a large angle.

5. After stopping the electrical stimulation pulse input, the forearm muscle group relaxes, and the palm returns to its natural state.

6. The input action command "gesture number 1" is analyzed and processed by the command receiver, and then the corresponding electrical stimulation mode information is transmitted to the controller. After analyzing the stimulation mode information, the controller transmits the electrical stimulation pulse output signal to the electrical stimulator.

7. After receiving the electrical stimulation pulse output signal, the electrical stimulator transmits the electrical stimulation pulse to the electrode patch of the wearable structure, respectively, so that the electrode patch that controls the flexor muscles of the middle finger, ring finger, and little finger controls the bending of the thumb. Electrode patches on the hallucis longus muscle and electrical stimulation patches on the extensor muscles that control the stretching of the index finger receive corresponding electrical stimulation pulses.

8. The wearable electrode patch transmits electrical stimulation pulses to the skeletal muscles of the forearm, respectively stimulating the flexor muscles that control the middle finger, ring finger, and little finger. The skeletal muscles contract, and the interphalangeal joints of each finger bend. At the same time, the thumb points Bend inward to make contact with the middle finger, and stretch the index finger outward to produce the desired action, that is, "gesture number 1".

9. After stopping the electrical stimulation pulse input, the forearm muscle group relaxes, and the palm returns to its natural state.

In this embodiment, the interphalangeal joints of each finger of the forearm are precisely controlled through the specific muscle precise stimulation mode and the pulse output of the small-sized electrode patch, which can not only control the movement of a single finger (finger), but also control multiple pairs of electrodes at the same time Stickers, combined actions, to achieve different gestures (such as the number "1"). It is convenient to use, easy to adjust, safe and effective, and has little side effects on the human body.

Claims (8)

1. accurately control the active Worn type auxiliary electrical stimulating system of finger for one kind, it is characterized in that comprise electric stimulation pulse output device and Worn type structure, wherein, the electric stimulation pulse output device is connected with the Worn type structure;

-electric stimulation pulse output device receives the instruction input of control side and produces the respective electrical boost pulse;

-Worn type structure links to each other with skin of forearm and exports electric stimulation pulse control Skeletal Muscle Contraction.

2. active Worn type auxiliary electrical stimulating system is pointed in accurate control according to claim 1; It is characterized in that; Said electric stimulation pulse output device comprises: command receiver, controller and electrostimulator, and wherein, command receiver is connected with controller and carries action command; Controller is connected with electrostimulator and transmits electrical stimulation pattern information, and electrostimulator is connected with the Worn type structure and transmits electric stimulation pulse.

3. active Worn type auxiliary electrical stimulating system is pointed in accurate control according to claim 2, it is characterized in that, said action command and electrical stimulation pattern information have corresponding relation;

Said corresponding relation is: after controller is analyzed action command; Choose simultaneously some to the Worn type structure electrode patch and adjust the input electric stimulation pulse characteristic of each counter electrode paster; Control flexor digitorum profundus, flexor digitorum superficialis, extensor digitorum crowd's contraction and the angle of bend of each interphalangeal joint of forearm relatively independently, thereby control the movable or concrete gesture of each finger.

4. active Worn type auxiliary electrical stimulating system is pointed in accurate control according to claim 1 and 2; It is characterized in that; Said Worn type structure comprises: some counter electrode pasters and special fixedly bandage; Wherein, electrode patch is connected with the electrostimulator of special fixedly bandage and electric stimulation pulse output device respectively.

5. active Worn type auxiliary electrical stimulating system is pointed in accurate control according to claim 3, it is characterized in that, said Worn type structure also comprises the electrode double buckle, and said electrode patch is fixedly connected with special fixedly bandage through the electrode double buckle.

6. active Worn type auxiliary electrical stimulating system is pointed in accurate control according to claim 3, it is characterized in that, said special fixedly bandage is two, is positioned over the near-end and the far-end of forearm respectively, as the positive and negative electrode bandage.

7. active Worn type auxiliary electrical stimulating system is pointed in accurate control according to claim 3, it is characterized in that, said electrode patch is reusable gel electrode paster.

8. active Worn type auxiliary electrical stimulating system is pointed in accurate control according to claim 6, it is characterized in that, said gel electrode paster specification is 20mm * 35mm.

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