Functional neuromuscular stimulation system with shielded percutaneous interface

A method of of providing a percutaneous interface comprising:

• passing at least one electrical lead through a site in a patient's skin;
• connecting the electrical lead with a first electrical connector which is mounted in a shield member, which shield member has a peripheral lip portion surrounding a low profile central portion, the central portion defining an aperture therethrough in communication with the first electrical connector which is mounted to the central portion;
• adhering the central and peripheral portions to the patient's skin with a layer of adhesive;
• adhesively applying an overlay member having an aperture therethrough which corresponds generally in size to the sheild member central portion over the peripheral lip portion and the patient's skin therearound such that the shield member is securely adhered to the patient's skin around the lead penetration site;
• and,
• connecting a second electrical connector with the first connector.

A percutaneous interface system providing an electrical connection between intramuscular electrodes implanted into a human patient and an external electrical stimulus generator, said percutaneous interface system comprising:

• a first electrical connector electrically connected with a plurality of electrical leads each originating at an intramuscular stimulation electrode;
• a second electrical connector electrically connected with a plurality of electrical leads each originating at a multichannel external electrical stimulus generator, said first and second electrical connectors selectively mating to electrically interconnect said plurality of intramuscular electrodes with the channels of the multichannel external electrical stimulus generator;
• an shield member having a low profile elastomeric central portion for accepting and retaining said first and second electrical connectors, and a peripheral lip portion extending outwardly therefrom, said peripheral lip portion including a lower adhesive surface for contacting and adhering to the skin of the patient in the region of a percutaneous electrode connection site;
• and,
• an adhesive overlay for fixing the relative position of the first and second electrical connectors and the low profile elastomeric central portion of said shield member.