Functional Electrical Stimulation
Functional Electrical Stimulation or FES for short, uses mild electrical pulses to trigger movement in muscles. FES is used almost exclusively in medical applications and use of FES electrodes should always be done under supervision of medical professionals. One of the most common applications is the rehabilitation of muscles after paralysis or nerve injury, often meant as a temporary therapy to restore certain motor functions.
FES has a lot of similarities with TENS therapy, but the currents used in FES are often stronger and are better suited for stimulating large muscles and making more pronounced movements.
Please note, while there are variants of FES electrodes which are implanted into the body, Screentec specialises in ‘on-the-skin’ electrodes and we do not currently manufacture implantable electrodes.
WEARPLEX
Screentec is part of a European consortium that aims to bring about new wearable technology. By using fully printed transistors on fabrics, we are aiming to make the next generation of smart clothing. The WEARPLEX technology will combine EMG and FES (Functional Electrical Stimulation) within the same electrode.
The transistors will allow us to change between EMG recording and FES stimulation using the same electrodes. In addition, this process will be controlled through software, so an app can tell certain areas to record or stimulate. This has a lot of potential applications, from medical rehabilitation, to clothing that can act as a smart controller for many different objects and applications.
