Electrotherapy device Highlights • A fabric electrode has been fabricated using the combination of weaving and printing technologies. • The conductive yarn pattern was optimized (2.5mm by 2.5mm grid) to achieve even current distribution of the electrode layer. • Asymmetric centrifugal mixing can breakdown the carbon particles and produce a high density (without voids) electrode. • The wearable electrotherapy was comfortable to wear and easy to use. • The prototype has been tested on six volunteers with osteoarthritis knee joint pain. Four out of six have reported noticeable pain reduction by using the device.
We present biphasic stimulator electronics developed for a wearable functional electrical stimulation system. The reported stimulator electronics consist of a twenty four channel biphasic stimulator. The stimulator circuitry is physically smaller per channel and offers a greater degree of control over stimulation parameters than existing functional electrical stimulator systems. The design achieves this by using, off the shelf multichannel high voltage switch integrated circuits combined with discrete current limiting and dc blocking circuitry for the frontend, and field programmable gate array based logic to manage pulse timing. The system has been tested on both healthy adults and those with reduced upper limb function following a stroke. Initial testing on healthy users has shown the stimulator can reliably generate specific target gestures such as palm opening or pointing with an average accuracy of better than 4 degrees across all gestures. Tests on stroke survivors produced some movement but this was limited by the mechanical movement available in those users’ hands.
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