Customized Modeling and Simulations for the Control of FES-Assisted Walking of Individuals with Hemiplegia

This chapter presents the modeling and simulation approach for the control of surface functional electrical stimulation (FES) for assisting walking in individuals with hemiplegia. The model is carefully reduced into a form that is tractable and therefore convenient for practical application, while still capturing the most important features of the real plant. The parameters describing the model are experimentally identifiable, and the model can be customized to represent the affected limb of a specific patient. The authors have also developed a practical simulation method based on optimal control that takes a desired walking pattern as input and outputs the stimulation profiles that are necessary to generate the pattern. The chapter provides several illustrative examples demonstrating the use of the OptiWalk software tool.