Review articles : Minimizing fatigue for functional electrical stimulation of muscle

Abstract
Interest in the possibility of using electrically stimulated muscular contractions in rehabilitation medicine is increasing. Progress is impeded by the phenomenon of fatigue which impairs effectiveness and consistency of contractions. Various methods for minimizing fatigue have been proposed and are presently discussed. These include fibre type conversion as a result of chronic low frequency conditioning stimulation, sequential stimulation, optimization of stimulation parameters and the use of hybrid orthoses.