Sensor-based FES for people with MS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Sensor-based functional electrical stimulation to address foot drop in people with multiple sclerosis: A pilot study.
IRAS ID
343480
Contact name
Don Mahad
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 6 days
Research summary
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that typically affects adults. In 2023, in Scotland approximately 1 in 300 people are affected by MS, with two to one female to male predominance. There is a wide variability in the symptoms that people with MS (pwMS) experience, including fatigue, impaired cognitive performance and impaired physical function (e.g., gait impairments). Gait impairment is a common symptom in pwMS, including foot drop which is the lack of lack of toe clearance from the ground. There are different ways to treat foot drop in MS including Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) and ankle foot orthosis. With the FES pre-tibial muscles are activated through stimulation of the common peroneal nerve in order to correct for foot drop and improve walking. However, there are a number of limitations of the use of FES in MS as not all pwMS are able to tolerate FES due to discomfort of the stimulation and due to challenges in electrode placement. Further, FES is set up by manual tuning of stimulation intensity with the help of a healthcare provider, which is then often kept constant irrespective of the terrain (i.e. walking uphill, downhill or flat). This frequently leads to overstimulation of the muscles that are involved to lift the foot off the ground. The aim of this study is to develop a personalised and adaptive FES controller (software) that will be able to adjust the stimulation intensity (i.e., reduce the stimulation intensity) based on feedback from sensors. By monitoring the patient’s gait using wearable sensors (e.g. sensor shoe), the stimulation intensity of the FES device can be adjusted in real time to ensure adequate foot clearance and minimise muscle fatigue.
REC name
East Midlands - Leicester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/EM/0065
Date of REC Opinion
20 Mar 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion