Ambulatory Exercise Rehabilitation: Introduction and Overview

Abstract

Interest in electrical stimulation for ambulation of spinal cord injury (SCI) individuals began with the report of “electrical splinting” of a paraplegic patient by Brindley et al. (1978) more than a decade ago. Since then, however, a number of problems associated with developing a practical electrical stimulation system for SCI have been encountered (Stallard et al., 1989). The most practical approach to date appears to combine electrical stimulation of paralyzed muscles with lower extremity orthotic bracing, as first proposed by investigators from two universities (Petrofsky et al., 1985, 1986). However, only recently has this approach been reduced to physician-prescribable, commercially available components.