Abdominal Functional Electrical Stimulation in Tetraplegia

People with high spinal lesions are at risk of respiratory complications because they have partial or complete paralysis of breathing muscles. Previous work has shown that tetraplegic lung volumes can be increased by using abdominal FES during expiration. The technique is attractive because it is non-invasive, painless in tetraplegia and completely reversible. It may provide a treatment for augmenting the patient's breathing both in the acute presentation of spinal injury (when half of cervical injuries require ventilation) and in long term management of tetraplegia and high paraplegia. We propose a pilot study in a small group of subjects to see if the technique is feasible from both a clinical and engineering viewpoint. The aims of the study are: 1)To examine the effects of abdominal FES on lung mechanics and gas exchange in tetraplegic subjects. 2)To optimise the stimulation pattern and intensity via electronic stimulators and to design a trigger to allow the FES to follow the subject's own breathing cycle automatically.