Recovery from peripheral nerve and nerve plexus injuries is usually slow
and incomplete because the regenerating motor axons often head erroneously toward
sensory receptors rather than muscle fibers and because the target muscles atrophy
while waiting for the slow process of reinnervation. Research has suggested that
electrical stimulation with different waveforms and temporal patterns at different
times during the regeneration process might improve the clinical outcome through
various mechanisms, but a practical means to deliver such stimulation has been
lacking. This invention teaches the use of miniature electrical stimulators that
can be implanted alongside the injured nerve(s) at the time of surgical repair
and that can be powered and controlled by transmission of radiofrequency energy
from outside the body so as to provide a variety of electrical stimuli at different
times during the recovery process.