Extended Data Fig. 7: Targeted modulation of muscle activity during walking.

Each panel reports the same representative data and quantification for one participant. Left, EMG activity of leg muscles during walking on a treadmill without EES (EES OFF) and with spatiotemporal EES (EES ON) while applying 50%, 45% and 70% body weight support for participants P1, P2 and P3, respectively. Stance and swing phases are indicated by grey and white backgrounds, respectively. The personalized spatiotemporal EES sequence (open loop) is schematized at the top right. The colours of each EES protocol refer to the targeted hotspots: weight acceptance (salmon), propulsion (magenta) and swing (cyan). These colours are used in the EMG traces to indicate the temporal window over which each targeted EES protocol is active. The bar plots report the amplitude of muscle activity without EES and with spatiotemporal EES, for which the quantification was performed over the entire burst of EMG activity and during each temporal window with targeted EES. The temporal windows are labelled with a number that refers to the spatiotemporal EES sequence. These results show the pronounced increase in the EMG activity of the targeted muscles (P1, no EES: n = 7 gait cycles, EES: n = 11 gait cycles; P2, no EES: n = 9 gait cycles, EES: n = 9 gait cycles; P3, no EES: n = 10 gait cycles, EES: n = 57 gait cycles). The average spatiotemporal trajectories of both feet with respect to the hip in the sagittal plane are shown for walking without EES and with spatiotemporal EES. The presence of targeted EES is indicated with the same colour code. Plots at bottom right show the relationships between EES frequency and the modulation of the EMG activity of flexor (blue) and extensor (magenta or salmon) muscles and maximum amplitude of hip movements during walking (mean ± s.e.m.; P1: n = 14, 17, 15, 19 gait cycles for increasing frequencies; P2: n = 13, 16, 10, 17, 12 gait cycles for increasing frequencies; P3: n = 20, 15, 16, 17, 15, 16, 15 gait cycles for increasing frequencies). ***P < 0.001. Student’s t-test.