Comparative Effects of Functional Electrical Stimulation and Mirror Therapy for Foot Clearance Among Patients With Sub-acute Stroke

Inclusion Criteria: * Patient aged 18-85 years of age, who experienced stroke within ≤6 months. * The Fugl-Meyer motor assessment of lower extremity (FMA-LE) was conducted by physiotherapist in the hospital, and score required to be ≥ 20 points. * Participants possessed healthy nerves, neuromuscular junctions, muscles tissues, and a sufficient range of motion in dorsiflexor and plantarflexion. * The subjects could walk independently on a treadmill for at least 2 min without without experiencing adverse reaction to FES. * Patients who received more 24 scores on Mini Mental State Exam and could comprehend and follow the information researcher provides. * No orthopedic diseases in upper and lower extremities. * Patients with functional ambulation classification (FAC) score of 3 or 4 were included (FAC is a scale of 0-5, where 3 indicates supervision or standby guarding and 4 indicates independent on level surfaces. * Patients with inadequate ankle dorsiflexion during the swing phase of gait. * Patients with adequate minimal stability at the ankle during stance with stimulation. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with cardiac pacemaker, those with skin lesions, who could not be treated due to spasticity within the last three months, and vestibular and cerebellar lesions or deaf- blindness were excluded. * Patients with past or current epilepsy, uncontrolled seizure disorder, mental disorders and all neurological disorders except stroke. * Patients with severe edema of lower extremities or patients of vascular disorders like deep vein thrombosis or thromboembolisms and severe atheroscelerosis of lower extremities. * Subjects with any musculoskeletal dysfunction that would potentially affect gait and causes risk of falls. * We excluded patients with pregnancy, plantar flexion contracture, and severe hemi-neglect. * Subjects with hip or knee prostheses made of metal on the lower limb were excluded.