Electronic Nerve Stimulation Device for Drop Foot People

Drop foot syndrome is a general term for difficulty in raising the rear of the foot from the ground, a common problem that can lead to falls, trips, and accidents in human life. It is normally a neuromuscular disorder that causes peroneal neuropathy between the fibula and the neck. In other words, the cause of drop foot is the lack of contact between the peroneal nerve and the central nervous system which enables the dorsiflexion of the foot. The person is unable to lift the foot or the toes upward. Foot drop correction is usually accomplished by electrical stimulation of the common peroneal nerve by transmitting a sequence of pulses at a given amplitude, length and frequency. The proposed work is to develop a product to help people those who are affected by drop foot syndrome. The proposed method uses force sensor to identify the proper positioning of the foot, based on the output microcontroller will provide the signal to the driver circuit to operate the stimulator. The proposed work offers low-power, low-cost, battery powered, high-performance, and portable electronic stimulator for drop foot correction. The proposed stimulator is wireless and has been developed using sensors instead of eliminating cables from the device to the stimulator unit using the radio frequency transmitter/receiver pair. Hence it may heplful for the person affected by drop foot syndrome and make it has compact and portable one.