Patient & Family FAQs

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is a well-established rehabilitation technique that uses pulses of electrical current to stimulate peripheral nerves (the “lower motor neurons” that connect the spinal cord muscles) generating muscle contractions and patterned muscle activity. FES is applied using electrodes placed over the muscle to be activated.

Restorative Therapies' iFES incorporates functional electrical stimulation (FES) integrated with task specific or motor assistance/resistance activities to optimize therapeutic goals. Our proprietary software provides real-time biofeedback, data tracking and sophisticated control algorithms that are designed for a wide range of neurological impairments.

Restorative Therapies iFES creates patterned movement in the arms, legs and core. In people with weak or paralyzed muscles, iFES enables muscles to work and perform activities. In addition, iFES can facilitate muscle contractions and activity even if the individual is not able to actively participate.

With our systems, you can stimulate muscles on one or both sides of your body depending upon your needs. You also can stimulate your core muscles during therapy sessions. These muscles are important for many activities including posture, balance, transferring, reaching and coughing.

An integral part of the iFES system is the motor, which provides assistance or resistance to enhance the function of weak or paralyzed muscles. Our motorized systems allow the user to perform massed practice repetitions to achieve high intensity activity.  The motor facilitates arm or leg movement in a circular motion to recreate physical work in conjunction with the FES-evoked muscle contractions. The arm or leg movements are sequenced with the muscle contraction at the precise time and degree of natural rotation.

Dynamic Motor Support helps maximize outcomes by automatically controlling the motor throughout your therapy session. Dynamic Motor Support delivers accurate speed and resistance and makes the motor 100% responsive to your individual performance level, maximizing your muscle contractions and producing consistent, reliable therapy. While powerful, the ultra-smooth motion operates very quietly.

When you first start your iFES therapy, it’s likely that your muscles will tire quickly. The motor will help you to complete a full duration therapy session from day one, even if you experience early muscle fatigue. As your muscles begin to condition, the motor will then start to provide resistance for your muscles to work against. As long as the user is able to maintain a set minimum speed, achieved through FES-evoked contractions with any intact movement, stimulation will be provided. This is called active therapy.

Passive, or motor only movement without FES, only allows the person to utilize muscle strength that is already available. During active therapy, FES is provided to force activity in paralyzed or weak muscles to contribute to the movement. Active therapy with FES is necessary to help you reach your health and recovery goals by allowing muscles to do the work they are meant to do.

Activity-Based Therapy (ABT) is a treatment protocol involving therapy interventions that focus on maximizing the nervous system’s capacity for recovery. Several techniques are incorporated to stimulate the nervous system below the level of an injury. The intensive use of FES is paramount in an ABT protocol.

Restorative Therapies products were developed to support clinicians and patients in the application of these techniques. High-intensity repetitive activation of the damaged neuromuscular system is necessary for motor re-learning and can be achieved on any Restorative Therapies iFES system. For example, a typical 30-minute RT300 iFES session will activate up to 12 muscle groups thousands of times during one session.

Task-specific training with FES is another key component of an ABT protocol and is aimed at restoring independence in a meaningful functional activity. This intervention can be supported with the Xcite iFES system which includes 40 functional activities.

High-intensity and task-specific training are both crucial to restore function and optimize health and wellness.

Restorative Therapies offers rehabilitation solutions for neurological conditions such as spinal cord injury, stroke, or multiple sclerosis. We offer comprehensive and customizable rehabilitation systems and supportive services. As the industry leader in integrated functional electrical stimulation (iFES), we’ve proudly helped more than 100,000 patients in more than 1,000 clinics and more than 4,000 homes worldwide over the past 15 years.