A respiration-controlled functional electrical stimulation (FES) system was developed to restore motor function of the upper extremities in the patient with high spinal cord injury. Stimulation data for controlling the hand, wrist and elbow were obtained from the analysis of EMGs measured during upper extremity motion in normal subjects and were stored in the memory of the system as data files. Each data file was divided into subfile 1 for controlling hand and wrist motion and subfile 2 for elbow motion. After subfile 1 or 2 was selected, giving expiration to respiration sensor 1 (S1) and expiration and inspiration to sensor 2 (S2) provided hand opening and grasp or elbow extension and flexion, respectively. This strategy achieved well-coordinated and reliable movement of the paralyzed upper extremities; a C_4 quadriplegic patient could voluntarily control her upper extremity for activities of daily living (ADL) such as drinking canned tea.