Zapping it all up - Final word

Welcome to our final Blog post. We have covered some interesting points and learnt a lot in our journey into FES and the lower limb. This final post will attempt to assess the future of FES of the lower limb and where it may be heading and to also evaluate the current level of FES technology.

Main Challenges to FES

The primary challenges of current FES usage seems to relate to several key factors (Ragnarsson, 2008)(Barrett, Bressman, Levy, Fahn, & O’Dell, 2011)(Faghri, Garstang, & Kida, 2009):

•    Cumbersome in design

•    Unable to provide any long term/permanent solution to the problem (e.g. Dystonia)          

•    Inefficiency of energy required to move the lower limb

•    Lack of empirical evidence which suggests the benefits of FES compared to other treatments

•    Lack of clinical testing supporting a better quality of life for the patient when using FES in comparison to other treatments

•    Lack of supporting evidence towards the reduced cost of care when using FES

These are all salient points that need to be considered in future analysis or future research of the benefits of FES in modern society.

What does the future hold for FES?

The current level of FES usage is expensive to initiate and extremely limited in who will benefit from it. Most consumers are dissatisfied by the bulk of the product and there is almost no clinical evidence of implanted systems being tested in lower limb FES. To combat this, the rate of technology advancement is increasing exponentially which is making FES products cheaper, lighter and more accessible to the general public. It is our opinion that manufacturing companies are beginning to address the concerns outlined above and if appropriate clinical testing supports the scientific based benefits, this will result in FES become the common modality of treatment in lower limb dysfunction.

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog an we hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it.

References:

Barrett, M. J., Bressman, S. B., Levy, O. A., Fahn, S., & O’Dell, M. W. (2011). Functional electrical stimulation for the treatment of lower extremity dystonia. Parkinsonism & Related Disorders(Journal Article).

 Faghri, P. D., Garstang, S. V., & Kida, S. (2009). Functional Electrical Stimulation (pp. 407-429)
Ragnarsson, K. T. (2008). Functional electrical stimulation after spinal cord injury: current use, therapeutic effects and future directions. Spinal cord, 46(4), 255-274.