Method And System For Providing Proprioceptive Feedback And Functionality Mitigating Limb Pathology

• Main Authors: Zorzos, Anthony, Herr, Hugh M, Maimon, Benjamin, Clites, Tyler, Carty, Matthew J, Duval, Jean-Francois
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 24.01.2019
• Subjects: ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; BATHING DEVICES FOR SPECIAL THERAPEUTIC OR HYGIENIC PURPOSESOR SPECIFIC PARTS OF THE BODY; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF,TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, E.G. STENTS; ELECTROTHERAPY; FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; FIRST-AID KITS; FOMENTATION; HUMAN NECESSITIES; HYGIENE; MAGNETOTHERAPY; MASSAGE; MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; PHYSICAL THERAPY APPARATUS, e.g. DEVICES FOR LOCATING ORSTIMULATING REFLEX POINTS IN THE BODY; PROSTHESES; RADIATION THERAPY; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; ULTRASOUND THERAPY

Proprioceptive feedback is provided in a residual limb of a person that includes forming a linkage between a pair of agonist and antagonist muscles, forming a sliding surface over which the agonist and antagonist muscles slide. The sliding surface can include a synovial sleeve, a bridge formed between the distal ends of bones, or a fixture that is osseointegrated into the bone. The invention also includes a system for transdermal electrical communication in a person that includes a percutaneous access device, a sensory device that communicates signals between a muscle and the percutaneous device, and a stimulation device in communication with the percutaneous access device. In another embodiment, a closed-loop functional stimulation system restores lost functionality to a person that suffers from impairment of a neurological control system or at least partial loss of a limb.