A system and method that facilitates stimulating neural pathways, e.g.,
muscles and/or associated nerves, of a patient's body for the purpose of
therapeutic medical treatment by rehabilitating weakened muscles and
using neuroplasticity to retrain sequential muscle movements and/or to
provide the ability to directly deliver functional motor movements. Use
of the present invention is of particular value for treating a patient
following a stroke. More particularly, such systems are characterized by
a plurality of discrete devices, preferably battery powered but may
alternatively include RF-powered devices as well or in combination,
configured for implanting within a patient's body via injection, each
device being configured to affect a parameter, e.g., via nerve and/or
muscle stimulation and/or to sense a body parameter, e.g., temperature,
O.sub.2 content, physical position, electrical potential, etc., that
operate under control of a system controller that coordinates the
sequential stimulation via wireless commands to the implanted devices.
