A novel portable device and validation procedure for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation
The adoption of upper limb myoelectric prosthesis is limited by the lack of closed control loop systems. Although the efferent control has already been integrated into these devices, the sensory feedback restoration in the afferent channel still remains an open challenge. Transcutaneous electrical n...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Wearable Technologies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2631717625100042/type/journal_article |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849236174841839616 |
|---|---|
| author | Roberto Paolini Fangqi Liu Alessia Scarpelli Andrea Demofonti Francesca Cordella Dai Jiang Andreas Demosthenous Loredana Zollo |
| author_facet | Roberto Paolini Fangqi Liu Alessia Scarpelli Andrea Demofonti Francesca Cordella Dai Jiang Andreas Demosthenous Loredana Zollo |
| author_sort | Roberto Paolini |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The adoption of upper limb myoelectric prosthesis is limited by the lack of closed control loop systems. Although the efferent control has already been integrated into these devices, the sensory feedback restoration in the afferent channel still remains an open challenge. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a promising method for generating somatotopic sensory feedback, allowing the closure of the control loop system. The application of this technique is limited by cumbersome and grid-powered electrical stimulators, making them unsuitable for everyday life, whereas most portable stimulators available on the market are designed for other purposes (e.g., muscular stimulation or pain therapy) and present limited stimulation wave customization. The stimulation devices employed in the literature often produce not fully suitable stimulation parameters and are frequently validated through procedures that do not fully clarify their practical application for sensory feedback restoration. The research aims to present a novel wearable TENS stimulation device (46 g, 62 × 49 × 20 mm) suitable for sensory feedback application. The validation was achieved through a benchtop test and a preliminary analysis on 10 healthy participants comparing the qualities, intensities, and stimulated areas of the sensations elicited by the proposed device and a reference stimulator. The proposed device is capable of delivering charge-balanced stimulation waves over skin-like resistive load and eliciting tingling and vibration sensations with similar intensities compared to the adopted reference. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-15bd822a297e4fc0bafbc2361c6a1edc |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2631-7176 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Wearable Technologies |
| spelling | doaj-art-15bd822a297e4fc0bafbc2361c6a1edc2025-08-20T04:02:27ZengCambridge University PressWearable Technologies2631-71762025-01-01610.1017/wtc.2025.10004A novel portable device and validation procedure for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulationRoberto Paolini0https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7327-3143Fangqi Liu1Alessia Scarpelli2Andrea Demofonti3Francesca Cordella4Dai Jiang5Andreas Demosthenous6Loredana Zollo7Research Unit of Advanced Robotics and Human-Centred Technologies, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London, London, UKResearch Unit of Advanced Robotics and Human-Centred Technologies, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, ItalyResearch Unit of Advanced Robotics and Human-Centred Technologies, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, ItalyResearch Unit of Advanced Robotics and Human-Centred Technologies, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London, London, UKDepartment of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London, London, UKResearch Unit of Advanced Robotics and Human-Centred Technologies, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, ItalyThe adoption of upper limb myoelectric prosthesis is limited by the lack of closed control loop systems. Although the efferent control has already been integrated into these devices, the sensory feedback restoration in the afferent channel still remains an open challenge. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a promising method for generating somatotopic sensory feedback, allowing the closure of the control loop system. The application of this technique is limited by cumbersome and grid-powered electrical stimulators, making them unsuitable for everyday life, whereas most portable stimulators available on the market are designed for other purposes (e.g., muscular stimulation or pain therapy) and present limited stimulation wave customization. The stimulation devices employed in the literature often produce not fully suitable stimulation parameters and are frequently validated through procedures that do not fully clarify their practical application for sensory feedback restoration. The research aims to present a novel wearable TENS stimulation device (46 g, 62 × 49 × 20 mm) suitable for sensory feedback application. The validation was achieved through a benchtop test and a preliminary analysis on 10 healthy participants comparing the qualities, intensities, and stimulated areas of the sensations elicited by the proposed device and a reference stimulator. The proposed device is capable of delivering charge-balanced stimulation waves over skin-like resistive load and eliciting tingling and vibration sensations with similar intensities compared to the adopted reference.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2631717625100042/type/journal_articleclosed loopelectric stimulatorsensory feedbacksomatotopic stimulationTENSwearable stimulator |
| spellingShingle | Roberto Paolini Fangqi Liu Alessia Scarpelli Andrea Demofonti Francesca Cordella Dai Jiang Andreas Demosthenous Loredana Zollo A novel portable device and validation procedure for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation Wearable Technologies closed loop electric stimulator sensory feedback somatotopic stimulation TENS wearable stimulator |
| title | A novel portable device and validation procedure for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation |
| title_full | A novel portable device and validation procedure for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation |
| title_fullStr | A novel portable device and validation procedure for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation |
| title_full_unstemmed | A novel portable device and validation procedure for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation |
| title_short | A novel portable device and validation procedure for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation |
| title_sort | novel portable device and validation procedure for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation |
| topic | closed loop electric stimulator sensory feedback somatotopic stimulation TENS wearable stimulator |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2631717625100042/type/journal_article |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT robertopaolini anovelportabledeviceandvalidationprocedurefortranscutaneouselectricalnervestimulation AT fangqiliu anovelportabledeviceandvalidationprocedurefortranscutaneouselectricalnervestimulation AT alessiascarpelli anovelportabledeviceandvalidationprocedurefortranscutaneouselectricalnervestimulation AT andreademofonti anovelportabledeviceandvalidationprocedurefortranscutaneouselectricalnervestimulation AT francescacordella anovelportabledeviceandvalidationprocedurefortranscutaneouselectricalnervestimulation AT daijiang anovelportabledeviceandvalidationprocedurefortranscutaneouselectricalnervestimulation AT andreasdemosthenous anovelportabledeviceandvalidationprocedurefortranscutaneouselectricalnervestimulation AT loredanazollo anovelportabledeviceandvalidationprocedurefortranscutaneouselectricalnervestimulation AT robertopaolini novelportabledeviceandvalidationprocedurefortranscutaneouselectricalnervestimulation AT fangqiliu novelportabledeviceandvalidationprocedurefortranscutaneouselectricalnervestimulation AT alessiascarpelli novelportabledeviceandvalidationprocedurefortranscutaneouselectricalnervestimulation AT andreademofonti novelportabledeviceandvalidationprocedurefortranscutaneouselectricalnervestimulation AT francescacordella novelportabledeviceandvalidationprocedurefortranscutaneouselectricalnervestimulation AT daijiang novelportabledeviceandvalidationprocedurefortranscutaneouselectricalnervestimulation AT andreasdemosthenous novelportabledeviceandvalidationprocedurefortranscutaneouselectricalnervestimulation AT loredanazollo novelportabledeviceandvalidationprocedurefortranscutaneouselectricalnervestimulation |