Objective To review researches of treatment of peripheral nerve injury with neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) regarding mechanism, parameters, and cl inical appl ication at home and abroad. Methods The latest original l iterature concerning treatment of peri pheral nerve injury with NMES was extensively reviewed. Results NMES should be used under individual parameters and proper mode of stimulation at early stage of injury. It could promote nerve regeneration and prevent muscle atrophy. Conclusion NMES plays an important role in cl inical appl ication of treating peripheral nerve injury, and implantable stimulation will be the future.
Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) has been proven to promote human balance, but research on its impact on motor ability mainly focuses on external physical analysis, with little analysis on the intrinsic neural regulatory mechanisms. This study, for the first time, investigated the effects of NMES on cortical activity and cortico-muscular functional coupling (CMFC) during standing balance. Twelve healthy subjects were recruited in bilateral NMES training, with each session consisting of 60 electrically induced isometric contractions. Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, electromyogram (EMG) signals, and center of pressure (COP) signals of the foot sole were collected before stimulation, two weeks after stimulation, and four weeks after stimulation while the subjects maintained standing balance. The results showed that NMES training improved subjects' postural stability during standing balance. Additionally, based on the EMG power spectral density (PSD), the κ frequency band was defined, and EEG-EMG time-frequency maximum information coefficients (TFMIC) were calculated. It was found that NMES enhanced functional connectivity between the cortex and lower limb muscles, with varying degrees of increase in β-κ and γ-κ frequency band CMFC after stimulation. Furthermore, sample entropy (SE) of EEG signals also increased after training. The results of this study confirm that NMES training can enhance CMFC and brain activation during standing balance. This study, from the perspective of physiological electrical signals, validates the effectiveness of NMES for balance training and provides objective assessment metrics for the training effects of NMES.