ABSTRACT
Work on both invasive Functional electrical stimulation (FES) and noninvasive FES started in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Connection and disconnection of the FES control device and, in percutaneous systems, connection of wires to the implanted electrodes from outside, also takes a few minutes. All invasive systems require some kind of patient control from a nonimplanted device, as do noninvasive systems. Also, all invasive systems require similar patient training and muscle strengthening. A. Kralj et al. give the general utilization statistics on the Ljubljana FES system for performance tests carried out by its developers. Following the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services example, most major medical insurers in the United States have already amended their policies to cover the Parastep system. In the commercial Parastep, the stimulation level is controlled by the touch buttons at the le- and right-hand sides of the walker.
