title: A Design Method for FES Bone Health Therapy in SCI.
abstract: FES assisted activities such as standing, walking, cycling and rowing induce forces within the leg bones and have been proposed to reduce osteoporosis in spinal cord injury (SCI). However, details of the applied mechanical stimulus for osteogenesis is often not reported. Typically, comparisons of bone density results are made after costly and time consuming clinical trials. These studies have produced inconsistent results and are subject to sample size variations. Here we propose a design process that may be used to predict the clinical outcome based on biomechanical simulation and mechano-biology. This method may allow candidate therapies to be optimized and quantitatively compared. To illustrate the approach we have used data obtained from a rower with complete paraplegia using the RowStim (III) system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bio-Engineering at the University of Reading, UK; The Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, Oxford.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Andrews
authors.affiliation: Department of Industrial Design, Coventry University , UK.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shippen
authors.affiliation: Department of Bio-Engineering at the University of Reading , UK.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Armengol
authors.affiliation: Aspire CREATe group University College London , UK.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gibbons
authors.affiliation: Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University , UK.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Holderbaum
authors.affiliation: Department of Bio-Engineering at the University of Reading , UK.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Harwin
keywords: FES; FES rowing; bone stress; osteoporosis; spinal cord injury