Upper Limb Function Restoration using Arm Cycling Functional Electrical Stimulation with Fuzzy Logic Controller

Stroke is a disease that arises due to disturbances in the Central Nervous System (CNS). Stroke sufferers can experience paralysis in the upper limbs caused by a decrease in muscle mass and muscle ability to carry out activities. Cyclic movement is a movement that utilizes the motor control system in the body that is carried out repeatedly. Stroke patients with upper-body motor paralysis cause limitations in carrying out daily activities. A person with a stroke requires rehabilitation to restore the function of the affected muscle. Rehabilitation with the help of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) has been commonly used in stroke patients. This study combines cyclic movement exercises with Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) which is used to activate impaired muscles in a person with central nervous system disorders through the general restoration of motor control. Exercises with cyclic movements are used in the form of pedaling movements on the hands. By combining hand pedaling and FES, it can provide a structured exercise pattern for the muscles of stroke sufferers while providing variation in the post-stroke rehabilitation process. This study developed an upper-limb FES cycling device that can be used to assist the rehabilitation of a person with hemiparesis, especially in the hands by combining hand strokes and Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) with a Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC). The combined hand stroke and FES system can work continuously and provide a final error value of -1.09735 then the output of the Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) which is used as input to the FES produces a pulse width error value difference of 0.178216 μs. In further research, it could be done by reducing the error value of the output of the controller and adding monitoring parameters to optimize system performance.