A blink restoration system with contralateral EMG triggered stimulation and real-time artifact blanking

IEEE Trans Biomed Circuits Syst. 2013 Apr;7(2):140-8. doi: 10.1109/TBCAS.2013.2255051.

Abstract

Patients suffering from facial paralysis are on the hazard of disfigurement and loss of vision due to loss of blink function. Functional-electrical stimulation (FES) is one possible way of restoring blink and other functions in these patients. A blink restoration system for uni-lateral facial paralyzed patients is described in this paper. The system achieves restoration of synchronized blink through processing the myoelectric signal of orbicularis oculi at the normal side in real-time as the trigger to stimulate the paralyzed eyelid. Design issues are discussed, including EMG processing, stimulating strategies and real-time artifact blanking. Two artifact removal approaches based on sample and hold and digital filtering technique are proposed and implemented. Finally, the whole system has been verified on rabbit models.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Animals
  • Artifacts
  • Blinking / physiology*
  • Electric Stimulation
  • Electric Stimulation Therapy*
  • Electromyography*
  • Electronics
  • Eyelids / physiopathology
  • Facial Nerve / pathology
  • Facial Paralysis / physiopathology
  • Facial Paralysis / therapy
  • Oculomotor Muscles / physiopathology
  • Rabbits
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted*
  • Software