Optimizing muscle force for functional electrical stimulation

A procedure has been developed to determine the number of pulses and interpulse intervals necessary for an N-let (set of N closely spaced stimulation pulses) to elicit the maximal twitch response in human skeletal muscle. It was found that using a doublet (N=2) produced the largest force-time integral per pulse. Since muscular fatigue during electrical stimulation is believed to be a function of the number of pulses received, the doublet was identified as the optimal twitch producing mechanism.<>