FES Driven Stepping in Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury
Principal Investigator: Cristina Sadowsky  Improving walking in
individuals with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is a major current
clinical and research goal. Gait training in SCI can be done
with therapist-assisted over ground ambulation (with or without
assistive device), in a Body Weight Supported Treadmill Training
(BWSTT) environment, where assistance for the movement of legs
and the pelvis is provided manually by a therapist or by a
robotic device (Lokomat, Auto-Ambulator, or Gait Trainer), or in
water (weight supported environment, with or without a
treadmill).  Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) has been
previously used to enhance the quality of gait training whether
as an assistive device (FES orthosis for foot drop) or to
enhance muscle strength and improve cardiovascular resistance
(FES ergometer), thus decreasing gait induced fatigue. Over
ground gait training (with or without an FES orthosis) can only
be used for individuals with incomple