A gadget that carries electric pulses into the knee is helping the limps patients to walk normally over again. The device stimulates the leg muscles to contract and properly lift the foot from the ground. The new gadget is designed for people suffering foot drop.
Usually when you walk, the foot is lifted slightly at ankle, but in patients with foot drop they have difficulty in rising their foot to clear the ground and may catch their toes as they walk. This may result in fall. The condition is occurred due to weakness or paralysis of the muscles below the knee that are required to lift the foot.
Several neurological conditions like stroke, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s are accountable for the biggest number of foot drop cases. In this condition nerves which tell the muscles to work do not transmit the signals from the brain and therefore the muscles do not function properly. Due to polio complication, foot drop can also occur.
The treatment for the conditions depends up on the specific cause and ranges from alternatives like supporting the foot with leg braces to transplanting nerves and tendons from other leg muscles. Another offered option is nerve stimulation which is also known as functional electrical stimulation. The recent study of patients with foot drop found that treatment increased the muscle strength.
The patients used the gadget five days a week for twelve weeks. Researchers have designed a wireless alternative known as the Bioness NESS L300 consists of a lightweight cuff that wraps around the leg just below the knee. It contains electrodes that are positioned against the skin and trigger the main nerve that travels down the leg into the foot.
A sensor positioned in the shoe allows the leg cuff know if the heel is on the ground or in the air. Once the foot is off the ground, the sensor sends signals to the knee cuff, which emits electrical pulses into the nerve. This causes a muscle in the leg to contract and lift up the foot.
The whole process happens very quickly, so the patient is able to walk normally. A hand-held remote control allows the wearer to adjust the level of stimulation. This treatment has proven to be effective in some patients when used together with intensive physiotherapy. However, it is not effective in everyone, explained Dr Sharlin Ahmed from The Stroke Association.