Feasibility and significance of stimulating interscapular muscles using transcutaneous functional electrical stimulation in able-bodied individuals

Figures & data

Figure 1 Functional electrical stimulation electrodes and reflective marker placements. (a) Anterior view and (b) posterior view

Table 1 Participant demographics.

Participant ID	Sex	Age	Hand dominance	Weight (kg)	Height (cm)
SCA12	M	30	R	79.37	179
SCA14	M	26	R	102.05	182
SCA15	M	25	R	87.08	182
SCA16	M	25	R	74.84	178
SCA17	M	21	R	80.73	166
SCA18	M	24	L	79.37	170
SCA19	M	20	R	68.03	175
SCA20	M	23	R	77.56	173
SCA21	M	31	R	74.84	179
SCA22	F	26	R	67.58	165

M = Male; F = Female; R = Right; L = Left; kg = kilograms; cm = centimeters

Table 2 FES intensity in milliamperes (mA) for individual muscles for each study participant.

Participant ID	Anterior deltoid	Middle deltoid	Lower trapezius	Upper trapezius	Serratus anterior
SCA12	31	24	33	32	30
SCA14	37	33	40	33	34
SCA15	35	30	31	22	24
SCA16	33	33	28	29	23
SCA17	43	45	33	27	25
SCA18	50	50	50	30	41
SCA19	36	23	22	22	19
SCA20	50	42	46	33	49
SCA21	40	34	35	30	30
SCA22	35	36	33	28	21

Figure 2 Means of the maximum arm reach across all experimental conditions. AFF – Active forward flexion; AD – FES of anterior deltoid; ADALL – FES of anterior deltoid along with LT, UT and SA; AB – Active abduction; MD – FES of middle deltoid; ABALL – FES of middle deltoid along with LT, UT, and SA

Figure 3 Displacement of the arm in flexion and abduction for one study participant (SCA18) across all experimental conditions. X-axis is the time in seconds and Y-axis is the displacement of the upper arm in degrees. AFF – Active forward flexion; AD – FES of anterior deltoid; ADALL – FES of anterior deltoid along with LT, UT, and SA; AB – Active abduction; MD – FES of middle deltoid; ABALL – FES of middle deltoid along with LT, UT, and SA

Table 3 Maximum reach in degrees across ten trials for each experimental condition for individual study participant.

Participant ID	AFF	AD	ADALL	AB	MD	ABALL
SCA12	127.47	46.70	55.85	139.20	34.96	41.97
SCA14	137.23	21.71	16.34	141.37	32.94	30.67
SCA15	125.28	52.02	61.99	136.23	39.49	48.11
SCA16	136.54	79.49	90.86	145.51	84.37	96.09
SCA17	141.04	44.32	46.38	146.02	36.22	41.20
SCA18	134.44	37.70	33.28	131.70	41.97	47.70
SCA19	140.46	76.03	74.04	136.31	33.60	45.95
SCA20	132.12	79.72	83.66	135.34	37.17	50.45
SCA21	122.96	91.33	89.78	137.93	49.33	55.09
SCA22	129.33	104.16	109.54	128.24	47.52	60.459

AFF-active forward flexion; AD-FES of anterior deltoid; ADALL-FES of anterior deltoid along with LT, UT, and SA; AB-active abduction; MD-FES of middle deltoid; ABALL-FES of middle deltoid along with LT, UT, and SA.