Dr Marcin Uszynski, Senior Neurological Physiotherapist in MS Ireland is organising a morning and afternoon information event in the Cheshire House, MS Western Regional Office, Roscam Galway on 16th of February 2016.
The goal of the day is to present current evidence regarding the effectiveness of functional electrical stimulation (FES) for a foot drop in people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
There will be one morning presentation at 10.30am followed by a patient demonstration or an afternoon presentation at 2.30pm also followed by the patient demonstration.
All people with MS are invited, not only those with a foot drop. Marcin will be answering questions during the day.
Get in touch
Please contact Tina: western@ms-society.ie or Marcin: marcinu@ms-society.ie to book your place by Tuesday, 9th February 2016
What is foot drop?
A foot drop is a condition where the muscles in the foot (mainly a tibialis anterior) get weak. A person with MS finds difficult to sufficiently lift the foot and toes while walking. It results in catching the floor, tripping and falling.
Functional electrical stimulation system stimulates the nerve in the weaker leg what enhances muscle contraction. It leads to lifting up weaker foot and toes. This stimulation happens in a functional way which means that stimulation lifts your foot only when you are going to step forward (swing phase of your walk). When your heel strikes the ground, stimulation is being turned off to allow your foot to be placed flat on the ground and take weight. This functional stimulation has an advantage over ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) (stiff, plastic splint) or a dictus splint because it allows you to walk using physiological movements rather than keeping your foot and toes always fixed in one position, what happens with above mentioned splints.
The BIONESS L300 system, which will be presented during this day, consists of three small components that communicate with each other wirelessly: ergonomic leg cuff, gait sensor and wireless control unit.