BME19315E BIOMEDICAL ELECTRONICS

TERM PROJECTS IN MEDICAL ELECTRONICS SYSTEM DESIGN

Fall 2022/2023
Project: Foot Drop Exercise Status Indicator
Background Information:

Foot drop (also called drop foot) is a condition that

impairs your ability to lift the top part of your foot
(and our toe area) up toward your shin. This
movement is known as dorsiflexion, and it’s
important for walking properly and maintaining
balance.

To move your muscles, the brain must send signals

that tell your muscles when to contract and relax.
When a brain injury or stroke affects the areas of
the brain that sends these signals, it can lead to foot drop. However, foot drop can also occur due to
damage to the muscles or nerves in the lower leg that directly perform dorsiflexion, or the nerve
roots originating from the lumbar spine (specifically L4 and L5).

Foot drop exercises help strengthen the muscles in the

area and rewire the brain to improve your brain’s
ability to send the correct signals to move your foot.
This rewiring process is known as neuroplasticity, and
it’s key to foot drop recovery.

Consistent practice of therapeutic exercises and

movement retraining provides the brain with the
stimulation it needs to relearn the skill of dorsiflexion.
Most physical therapists send patients home with a
sheet of exercises for foot drop to practice on their
own at home to provide the brain with the repetition
it needs to recover.

Ref: https://www.flintrehab.com/foot-drop-exercises/

What to Do:
Try your best to obtain as much information as possible from the web, books, and other
relevant publications in the topic. If possible, visit a physiotherapy clinic and try to see the
application of the device. Organize the information and present it as a three-to-five-page
document. Observe guidelines for technical presentation. Attach all relevant devices
documents as appendices. Submit your report in electronic form in pdf or MS word format.
Selected reports may be presented orally before the final exam and bonus marks shall be
given to their owners.
Block diagram presentation of the device is envisaged in the figure below. An application of
important part of the work is given in Figure 6.21 in Webster as also given below. Develop
the system in paper form from electrodes to the display indicating clearly the identification
and characteristics of all electronic components and devices that you are going to use in your
design.
 Electrodes

Instrumentation amplifier Band-pass filter Precision rectifier

Analog gate
Integrator
(switch)

Monostable
Counter and display Comparator
multivibrator

Threshold setting

Figure 1: Block diagram of the system envisaged.

Figure 6.21 Block diagram of an integrator for EMG signals in Webster, medical instrumentation

P Monostable
Counter 1
multivibrator

Switch
Comparator

C vt
EM Absolute- R
value − 3

G1
2
circuit
+

Integrator