Dishabituation of the flexion reflex in spinal cord-injured man and its application in the restoration of gait.

The flexion withdrawal reflex, evoked by surface electrical stimulation, has been used to provide hip flexion for the restoration of gait in paraplegics. A major limitation to its use has been the decrease in the magnitude of the response to repeated stimulation (habituation). In this study it was found that by using high intensity stimulation the response could be dishabituated. It was demonstrated that sufficient hip flexion for functional electrical stimulation-assisted gait was maintained using high intensity pulses in a one-step-ahead controller.