Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation using novel unbalanced biphasic waveform and novel electrode arrangement
First Claim
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1. Apparatus for providing transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation to a user, said apparatus comprising:
- a stimulation unit for electrically stimulating nerves using asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses, wherein during the first phase and the second phase of an asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse, said stimulation unit generates a voltage at an anode that is higher than a voltage at a cathode so as to allow current to flow from the anode to the cathode, and wherein said stimulation unit delivers a larger amount of electrical charge in the second phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse than the amount of electrical charge delivered in the first phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse using the same anode voltage setting in both phases of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse to deliver the same current intensity by taking advantage of the electrical charge accumulated during the first phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse;
a control unit for controlling the electrical stimulation delivered by said stimulation unit; and
an electrode array connectable to said stimulation unit, said electrode array comprising a substrate and at least first and second electrodes, the at least first and second electrodes being mounted to said substrate with a predetermined arrangement, so that when said substrate is placed on one limb of the user, said first electrode overlays a first nerve on the limb of user but not a second nerve on the limb of the user and said second electrode overlays the second nerve on the limb of the user but not the first nerve on the limb of the user;
whereby, the first electrode activates the first nerve during the first phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse and the second electrode activates the second nerve during the second phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse.
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) devices which utilize novel stimulation waveforms and novel arrangements of TENS electrodes to improve the efficiency of power consumption while enhancing therapeutic effects.
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Citations
68 Claims
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1. Apparatus for providing transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation to a user, said apparatus comprising:
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a stimulation unit for electrically stimulating nerves using asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses, wherein during the first phase and the second phase of an asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse, said stimulation unit generates a voltage at an anode that is higher than a voltage at a cathode so as to allow current to flow from the anode to the cathode, and wherein said stimulation unit delivers a larger amount of electrical charge in the second phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse than the amount of electrical charge delivered in the first phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse using the same anode voltage setting in both phases of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse to deliver the same current intensity by taking advantage of the electrical charge accumulated during the first phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse; a control unit for controlling the electrical stimulation delivered by said stimulation unit; and an electrode array connectable to said stimulation unit, said electrode array comprising a substrate and at least first and second electrodes, the at least first and second electrodes being mounted to said substrate with a predetermined arrangement, so that when said substrate is placed on one limb of the user, said first electrode overlays a first nerve on the limb of user but not a second nerve on the limb of the user and said second electrode overlays the second nerve on the limb of the user but not the first nerve on the limb of the user; whereby, the first electrode activates the first nerve during the first phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse and the second electrode activates the second nerve during the second phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 64)
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35. A method for providing transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation therapy to a user, said method comprising:
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providing a stimulation unit for generating asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses, wherein the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses are generated by creating a voltage difference between an anode voltage and a cathode voltage, and the amount of electrical charge delivered in the second phase of an asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse is larger than the amount of electrical charge delivered in the first phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse using the same anode voltage during the first and second phases of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse to deliver the same current intensity by taking advantage of the electrical charge accumulated during the first phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse; providing an electrode array connectable to said stimulation unit, said electrode array comprising a substrate and at least first and second electrodes, the at least first and second electrodes being mounted to said substrate with a predetermined arrangement, so that when said substrate is placed on one limb of the user, said first electrode overlays a first nerve on the limb of user but not a second nerve on the limb of user and said second electrode overlays the second nerve on the limb of user but not the first nerve on the limb of user; and using said stimulation unit and said electrode array to apply asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses to the skin of a user, whereby, the first electrode activates the first nerve during the first phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse and the second electrode activates the second nerve during the second phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65)
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66. A method for providing transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation therapy to a user, said method comprising:
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providing a stimulation unit for generating asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses, wherein the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses are generated by creating a voltage difference between an anode voltage and a cathode voltage, and the amount of electrical charge delivered in the second phase of an asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse is larger than the amount of electrical charge delivered in the first phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse using the same anode voltage during the first and second phases of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse by taking advantage of the electrical charge accumulated during the first phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse; providing an electrode array connectable to said stimulation unit, said electrode array comprising a substrate and at least first and second electrodes, the at least first and second electrodes being mounted to said substrate with a predetermined arrangement, so that when said substrate is placed on the user, said first electrode overlays a first nerve but not a second nerve and said second electrode overlays the second nerve but not the first nerve; and using said stimulation unit and said electrode array to apply asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses to the skin of a user; wherein the anode voltage of said stimulation unit is controllable; wherein the anode voltage is controlled to a target value; wherein said target value for the anode voltage is adjusted so that measurements of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses meet pre-determined criteria; and further wherein said measurements comprise the amplitude ratio between the actual stimulation current and a target stimulation current at a specific time within each of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses.
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67. A method for providing transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation therapy to a user, said method comprising:
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providing a stimulation unit for generating asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses, wherein the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses are generated by creating a voltage difference between an anode voltage and a cathode voltage, and the amount of electrical charge delivered in the second phase of an asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse is larger than the amount of electrical charge delivered in the first phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse using the same anode voltage during the first and second phases of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse by taking advantage of the electrical charge accumulated during the first phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse; providing an electrode array connectable to said stimulation unit, said electrode array comprising a substrate and at least first and second electrodes, the at least first and second electrodes being mounted to said substrate with a predetermined arrangement, so that when said substrate is placed on the user, said first electrode overlays a first nerve but not a second nerve and said second electrode overlays the second nerve but not the first nerve; and using said stimulation unit and said electrode array to apply asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses to the skin of a user; wherein the anode voltage of said stimulation unit is controllable; wherein the anode voltage is controlled to a target value; wherein said target value for the anode voltage is adjusted so that measurements of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses meet pre-determined criteria; and further wherein said measurements comprise the ratio between the actual charge and the target charge for each of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses.
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68. A method for providing transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation therapy to a user, said method comprising:
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providing a stimulation unit for generating asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses, wherein the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses are generated by creating a voltage difference between an anode voltage and a cathode voltage, and the amount of electrical charge delivered in the second phase of an asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse is larger than the amount of electrical charge delivered in the first phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse using the same anode voltage during the first and second phases of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse by taking advantage of the electrical charge accumulated during the first phase of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulse; providing an electrode array connectable to said stimulation unit, said electrode array comprising a substrate and at least first and second electrodes, the at least first and second electrodes being mounted to said substrate with a predetermined arrangement, so that when said substrate is placed on the user, said first electrode overlays a first nerve but not a second nerve and said second electrode overlays the second nerve but not the first nerve; and using said stimulation unit and said electrode array to apply asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses to the skin of a user; wherein the anode voltage of said stimulation unit is controllable; wherein the anode voltage is controlled to a target value; wherein said target value for the anode voltage is adjusted so that measurements of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses meet pre-determined criteria; and further wherein said measurements comprise a combination of an amplitude ratio and a charge ratio, wherein said amplitude ratio is the ratio between the actual stimulation current and the target stimulation current at a specific time within the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses, and further wherein said charge ratio is the ratio between the actual current charge and the target current charge of the asymmetric biphasic electrical pulses.
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Specification