JP2006288623A - Electrostimulation method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To minimize delay of time until stimulation becomes effective while preventing unexpected stimulation from applying to cutaneous sensation. <P>SOLUTION: A current command value output part 10 outputs a current command value to a current variation control part 20. When voltage which an integrator outputs is lower than the current command value, a comparator 26 closes a switch 23 to input voltage obtained by amplifying fixed voltage outputted by a constant value output part 21 by a gain adjustor 22 to the integrator 24. Voltage outputted by the integrator 24 boosts in proportion to time to a value equal to the current command value and thereafter it is kept to be the value. The voltage is adjusted by a gain adjuster 25 and inputted to a constant current generation/control part 40, and current corresponding to this is inputted from a user skin electrode 44 to a mounting person 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical stimulation method and apparatus for stimulating an organ that responds to stimulation including vestibular sensation and muscles by passing a weak current.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as described in Patent Document 1, a body guidance device using electrical stimulation to a vestibular sensation which is a receptor for balance sensation is known. The induction of walking by such electrical stimulation is as follows.
As shown in FIG. 4, a skin surface electrode 44 a is installed behind the left ear of the wearer 1, and a skin surface electrode 44 b is installed behind the right ear, and about several mA between the body 90 of the electric stimulator 200 and these electrodes. When a weak direct current is applied, a sense of acceleration can be generated in the vestibular sense of the wearer 1 toward the anode side. That is, the subjective gravity direction of the wearer 1 is inclined, and the center of gravity of the wearer 1 fluctuates according to the direction and strength of the current, and the body swims to the left or right. Since there is no irritation to the skin, the wearer 1 notices after his body moves.

  In this way, by generating a sense of acceleration in the left-right direction, it is possible to cause an inclination in the sense of the vertical direction that is the origin of the standing-up motion, and thus the standing posture of the wearer 1 is intended to be intended by the person. It tilts to the anode side regardless of the response. When this inclination is generated during walking, the walking direction of the wearer 1 is bent toward the anode side as shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, when a current is passed using the skin surface electrode 44a placed behind the left ear of the wearer 1 as an anode and the skin surface electrode 44b placed behind the right ear as a cathode, the wearer 1 The left side of the anode is bent and walked, and a current is passed through the skin surface electrode 44a placed behind the left ear of the wearer 1 as a cathode and the skin surface electrode 44b placed behind the right ear as an anode. Then, the wearer 1 turns and walks in the right direction on the anode side.

  FIG. 6 shows an example in which walking of the wearer 1 of the walking guidance device 200 is guided as described above. The graph of FIG. 6 is obtained by plotting the position of the hips of a human walking with the intention of going straight in the direction of the z-axis in FIG. The horizontal axis of the graph represents the amount of movement in the z-axis direction of FIG. 5, that is, the forward direction, and the vertical axis represents the amount of movement in the x-axis direction of FIG. The amount of current is a positive value when the skin surface electrode 44a placed behind the left ear of the wearer 1 is an anode, and the skin surface electrode 44b placed behind the right ear is a cathode, and the opposite case is a negative value. The walking locus of the wearer 1 is plotted for each current amount. Each mark represents a position every 0.5 seconds, and electrical stimulation was started from the position of 0 on the horizontal axis.

  According to FIG. 6, as the current amount increases toward the positive side, the leftward direction increases, and as the current amount increases toward the negative side, the rightward direction increases, so that the wearer 1 depends on the current amount. This shows that the left and right acceleration feeling can be controlled. Using this phenomenon, the wearer 1 can be guided with high reproducibility without forced external force.

  In the electrical stimulation as described above, the skin pain of the wearer 1 may be stimulated to feel pain. In order to suppress such skin pain sensation, a high-frequency AC component should be suppressed. In general, a stimulation signal in which a high-frequency component is suppressed by a low-pass filter has been used. Hereinafter, the configuration of a conventional electrical stimulation apparatus 200 that performs such electrical stimulation will be described with reference to FIG.

  The conventional electrical stimulation apparatus 200 includes a current command value output unit 10 that outputs a current command value (analog voltage), a preprocessing filter unit 30 that performs preprocessing on the voltage and outputs the voltage, and an output voltage of the preprocessing filter unit 30. The constant current generation / control unit 40 is configured to output a current to the user skin electrode 44. The main body 90 of FIG. 4 is configured by a portion excluding the user skin electrode 44 included in the constant current generation / control unit 40 from them.

The current command value output unit 10 outputs a current command value that indicates the current value of the stimulation target to the preprocessing filter unit 30.
The low pass filter 31 of the preprocessing filter unit 30 gradually increases the input voltage. The gain adjuster 32 is provided with a variable resistor that adjusts the amplification factor, and increases or decreases the input voltage according to the amplification factor.

  The power supply 41 of the constant current generation / control unit 40 outputs a constant current. The current detector 42 detects the amount of current flowing from the power supply 41 to the current regulator 43 and outputs a voltage proportional to the detected current amount to the comparator 45. The comparator 45 compares the voltage output from the current detector 42 with the voltage output from the preprocessing filter unit 30 and outputs a high level or low level voltage. For example, when the voltage output from the current detector 42 is smaller than the voltage output from the preprocessing filter unit 30, a high level voltage is output. Otherwise, a low level voltage is output. The current regulator 43 increases the amount of current when a high level voltage is input from the comparator 45, and decreases the amount of current when a low level voltage is input. The user skin electrode 44 includes a skin surface electrode 44a installed behind the left ear and a skin surface electrode 44b installed behind the right ear, and inputs the current output from the current regulator 43 to the wearer 1. To do. The constant current generation / control unit 40 measures the amount of current actually flowing and controls the current supply so as to achieve the amount of current corresponding to the voltage input from the preprocessing filter unit 30 with the above configuration. .

Before the electrical stimulation apparatus is configured as shown in FIG. 7, a constant current that matches the current command value output by the current command value output unit 10 is generated and controlled by the constant current generation / control unit 40, and the user skin electrode 44, the wearer 1 is stimulated. On the other hand, by configuring as described above, the amount of current input to the wearer 1 gradually increases and reaches the amount of current indicated by the current command value, so that skin pain sensation is suppressed.
JP 2004-254790 A

However, according to the above technique, due to the general characteristics of the frequency limiting filter, there is a large time delay for the amount of current to increase to the value at which the stimulus is actually effective after the request for stimulus presentation occurs. It was. A solid line in FIG. 8 indicates a current value input to the wearer 1 by the conventional electrical stimulation device 200 described above. A one-dot chain line is a current waveform when the current command value output from the current command value output unit 10 (FIG. 7) is directly input to the constant current generation / control unit 40. When the current command value output unit 10 (FIG. 7) outputs a current command value having the stimulation target current value I ₀ at the stimulus input start time t ₀ , the current is output by the low-pass filter 31 (FIG. 7) of the preprocessing filter unit 30. voltage gradually until stimulation achieved time t ₂ reaches the predetermined value increases. This voltage is output after being increased or decreased according to the gain of the gain adjuster 32, and a current amount corresponding to this voltage is input to the wearer 1 from the user skin electrode 44 (FIG. 7) of the constant current generation / control unit 40. Cutaneous pain wearer's 1 by a current as described above is not stimulated, stimulation takes time from t ₀ until the effect to t _2, so that the timing of the stimulus is significantly delayed.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and the object thereof is not to impair the effect of the assumed electrical stimulation in electrical stimulation by direct current or low frequency alternating current such as vestibular stimulation or muscle stimulation. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical stimulation method and apparatus that minimizes a delay in time until a stimulus is effective while preventing an unexpected stimulus from being generated for skin pain.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems. The invention according to claim 1 is an electrical stimulation that stimulates an organ that responds to stimulation including vestibular sensation and muscle by electrical stimulation via a skin surface electrode. In the electrical stimulation method using the apparatus, the electrical stimulation method has a process of controlling a current change amount per unit time to a maximum value that does not stimulate skin pain sensation or a value that does not exceed the maximum value.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electrical stimulation method using an electrical stimulation device that stimulates an organ that responds to stimulation including a vestibular sensation and muscle by electrical stimulation via a skin surface electrode. Current change amount from the outside of the electrical stimulation device and the actual amount of current flowing are measured to achieve the set steady target current amount and the current change amount per unit time. And a process for controlling the supply.

  The invention according to claim 3 is an electrical stimulation method using an electrical stimulation device that stimulates an organ that responds to stimulation including a vestibular sensation and muscle by electrical stimulation via a skin surface electrode, and the skin surface before stimulation The steady target current amount corresponding to the measured current resistance value from the process of measuring the current resistance of the electrode, the steady target current amount associated with each current resistance value, and the current change amount per unit time. And a step of acquiring a value of a current change amount per unit time, and a step of controlling the steady target current amount of the electrical stimulation and the current change amount per unit time to the acquired value. Electrical stimulation method.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the electrical stimulation method according to any one of the first to third aspects, the current change amount per unit time is a unit for increasing the current value to the steady target current amount. It is the amount of current change per hour.

  The invention according to claim 5 is an electrical stimulation device that stimulates an organ that responds to stimulation including vestibular sensation and muscle by electrical stimulation via a skin surface electrode, and does not stimulate skin pain sensation per unit time. An electrical stimulation device comprising means for controlling to a maximum value or a nearby value not exceeding the maximum value.

  The invention according to claim 6 is an electrical stimulation device that stimulates an organ that responds to stimulation including a vestibular sensation and muscle by electrical stimulation via a skin surface electrode. Means for setting from the outside of the electrical stimulator, and means for controlling the current supply so as to achieve the set steady target current amount and current change amount per unit time by measuring the amount of current that actually flows. An electrical stimulation device comprising:

  The invention according to claim 7 is an electrical stimulation device that stimulates an organ that responds to stimulation including vestibular sensation and muscle by electrical stimulation through the skin surface electrode, and measures the energization resistance of the skin surface electrode before stimulation. And a steady target current amount corresponding to each energization resistance value and a current change amount value per unit time, a steady target current amount corresponding to the measured energization resistance value and a current per unit time An electrical stimulation apparatus comprising: means for acquiring a value of a change amount; and means for controlling a steady target current amount of the electrical stimulation and a current change amount per unit time to the acquired value. .

  The invention according to claim 8 is the electrical stimulation device according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the current change amount per unit time is a unit when the current value is increased to the steady target current amount. It is the amount of current change per hour.

  According to the present invention, by controlling the amount of current in consideration of not only the steady target current amount but also the amount of current change per unit time, while suppressing skin pain sensation, the time until the stimulus is effective Delay can be minimized.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the electrical stimulation apparatus 100 in this embodiment. The electrical stimulation device 100 is different in that a current change amount control unit 20 is provided instead of the preprocessing filter unit 30 in the conventional electrical stimulation device 200. This current change amount control unit 20 has a problem that the timing of stimulus presentation is greatly delayed in the processing by the conventional low-pass filter 31 (FIG. 7), and the current change amount per unit time is not a processing based on the frequency. By processing to be suppressed below a certain level, the time delay until the stimulation is effective is reduced without causing the skin pain sensation. The configuration of the current change amount control unit 20 illustrated in FIG. 1 is an example, and is not limited to this configuration.

The constant value output unit 21 of the current change amount control unit 20 outputs a constant voltage. The gain adjuster 22 is provided with a variable resistor that adjusts the amplification factor, and outputs and increases or decreases the input voltage according to the amplification factor. Since this voltage is integrated by the integrator 24 and used as a value indicating the amount of current, the voltage output from the gain adjuster 22 and input to the integrator 24 becomes a value indicating the amount of current change per unit time. That is, the amount of current change can be controlled by adjusting the gain of the gain adjuster 22. In the graph of FIG. 8, since the current change amount of the rising waveform at the stimulus input start time t ₀ is the portion where the change in the current amount per unit time that does not stimulate skin pain is the largest, the voltage output by the gain adjuster 22 is this. The gain of the gain adjuster 22 is set so that the value corresponds to the amount of current change.

  The comparator 26 compares the voltage output from the current command value output unit 10 with the voltage output from the integrator 24, and outputs a high level or low level voltage. For example, when the voltage output from the integrator 24 is smaller than the voltage output from the current command value output unit 10, the comparator 26 outputs a high level voltage, and otherwise outputs a low level voltage. The switch 23 closes the switch 23 when a high level voltage is input from the comparator 26 and inputs the output voltage of the gain adjuster 22 to the integrator 24. When the low level voltage is input, the switch 23 switches the switch 23. And the output voltage of the gain adjuster 22 is not input to the integrator 24. The integrator 24 integrates and outputs the voltage output from the gain adjuster 22. That is, the output voltage of the integrator 24 rises in proportion to time, and when it rises to a value equal to the current command value, the value is maintained thereafter.

  The gain adjuster 25 is provided with a variable resistor that adjusts the amplification factor, and outputs and increases or decreases the input voltage according to the amplification factor. The voltage obtained by increasing or decreasing the output voltage of the integrator 24 maintained at a value equal to the current command value according to the gain of the gain adjuster 25 is input to the constant current generation / control unit 40 as a value indicating the steady target current amount. . That is, the steady target current amount can be controlled by adjusting the gain of the gain adjuster 25.

  The current change amount control unit 20 controls the steady target current amount and the current change amount per unit time with the above-described configuration. Further, the constant current generation / control unit 40 is configured in the same manner as in the prior art, and measures the actual amount of current flowing so as to achieve the steady target current amount and the current change amount input from the current change amount control unit 20. Control the current supply.

  The current waveform by the electrical stimulation device 100 described above is indicated by a broken line in the graph of FIG. The graph of FIG. 2 is obtained by adding a broken line to the graph of FIG. 8, and this broken line indicates a current value input to the wearer 1 by the electrical stimulation device 100. The current change amount control unit 20 converts the voltage output by the current command value output unit 10 as a current command value into a voltage having a ramp-type time response tracking characteristic, and raises the voltage to a voltage equal to the current command value. maintain. This voltage is output by increasing / decreasing according to the gain of the gain adjuster 25, and a current corresponding to this voltage is input to the wearer 1 from the user skin electrode 44 of the constant current generation / control unit 40.

When a current command value indicating a stimulation target current value smaller than I _{0 is} output from the current command value output unit 10, the wearer 1 is given a weaker stimulus than the above and is less effective than I _0. There is an effect. That is, when the electrical stimulation device 100 induces walking as described above, the walking can be guided small.

In processing by the low pass filter 31 of a conventional electrical stimulation device 200, a large portion of the change in current per most unit time does not irritate the skin pain is a rising waveform of stimulation input start time t _0. If the change in the current amount more drastically than this, that is, the time waveform of the stimulation current is represented in the graph, if it is included in the hatched portion of FIG. 2, skin pain is stimulated. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the amount of time change of the current value below a certain level. In this embodiment, by appropriately setting the gain adjuster 22, it is possible to control the current with the maximum amount of change that is a limit value that does not always stimulate the skin pain, and without stimulating the skin pain. The stimulation target current value I ₀ can be reached in the shortest time from t ₀ to t ₁ .

  Next, another configuration example of the electrical stimulation device will be described. Unlike the configuration in which the current command value output from the current command value output unit 10 is directly input to the constant current generation / control unit 40, the electrical stimulation device 110 in FIG. As a result, it is possible to set an appropriate steady target current amount and current change amount per unit time from the outside of the electrical stimulation device 110 for each wearer 1, and to reduce skin pain sensation that is not desired to be applied.

  The electrical stimulation device 110 includes the above-described current command value output unit 10, current change amount control unit 20, and constant current generation / control unit 40. The user stimulus adjustment knob 27 includes a knob for changing a resistance value of a variable resistor used for current change amount adjustment provided in the gain adjuster 22 (FIG. 1) in the current change amount control unit 20, and a gain adjuster 25. It is comprised from the knob for changing the resistance value of the variable resistor used for the electric current amount adjustment provided in (FIG. 1). Further, the user skin electrode 44 included in the constant current generation / control unit 40 in FIG. 1 is provided outside the constant current generation / control unit 40 in FIG.

  The electrical stimulation device 110 further includes an adjustment signal generator 50 and an operation / adjustment changeover switch 60 within a broken line. The adjustment signal generator 50 outputs a positive or negative maximum current command value. The operation / adjustment changeover switch 60 is a toggle switch. When the common contact c is connected to the contact a, the output voltage of the current command value output unit 10 is input to the current change amount control unit 20, and the common contact c is connected to the contact b. The output voltage of the adjustment signal generator 50 is input to the current change amount control unit 20.

The operation of the electrical stimulation device 110 is as follows. The wearer 1 installs the skin surface electrodes 44a and 44b constituting the user skin electrode 44 behind the left ear and the right ear, respectively, and connects the common contact c of the operation / adjustment switch 60 to the contact b. Then, a value equal to the maximum positive and negative current command value output from the current command value output unit 10 is output from the adjustment signal generator 50 to the current change amount control unit 20. A current amount corresponding to the voltage output by the current change amount control unit 20 is input from the constant current generation / control unit 40 to the wearer 1 through the user skin electrode 44. The positive / negative switching of the maximum current command value output from the adjustment signal generator 50 may be configured to be manually switched by the wearer 1, and the current value input to the wearer 1 is a graph in FIG. 2. As shown by the broken line in FIG. 6, the time interval until the value increases and becomes a constant value, that is, the time interval longer than the time from t ₀ to t ₁ is provided, and the configuration may be configured to automatically and repeatedly switch between positive and negative. Good.

  At this time, if the wearer 1 feels a skin pain sensation, the current provided in the gain adjuster 22 (FIG. 1) is operated so as to obtain an acceptable skin pain sensation by operating the user stimulus adjustment knob 27. The resistance value of the variable resistor used for the change amount adjustment and the resistance value of the variable resistor used for the current amount adjustment provided in the gain adjuster 25 (FIG. 1) are changed. Thereby, the current change amount control unit 20 uses the current command value output from the current command value output unit 10 as the lamp response corresponding to the steady target current amount appropriate for each wearer 1 and the current change amount per unit time. And output to the constant current generation / control unit 40. When the wearer 1 adjusts the steady target current amount and the current change amount per unit time to an appropriate value in this way, and then connects the common contact c of the operation / adjustment changeover switch 60 to the contact a, the current command value output unit The current command value output from 10 is input to the current change amount control unit 20. By such reference work, it is possible to optimally reduce skin pain sensation in vestibular electrical stimulation or the like, and to prevent a delay in response until the electrical stimulation is effective.

  In the above description, the wearer 1 manually sets the steady target current amount and the current change amount per unit time. However, it may be automatically set according to individual differences and environmental differences. In this method, the energization resistance of the user skin electrode 44 is measured in a short time before the stimulus is actually applied, and a preferable steady target current amount and a current change amount per unit time are estimated and automatically set based on the measurement result. Is.

  An example of the configuration and the operation for performing automatic setting as described above is as follows, but is not limited thereto. Here, the configuration of the current change amount control unit 20 (FIG. 1) of the electrical stimulation device 100 described above is added as follows. The current change amount control unit 20 further includes an energization resistance measurement unit, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The gain adjuster 22 and the gain adjuster 25 are connected to the CPU and set the amplification factor to a value instructed by the CPU. The energization resistance measuring unit is connected to the user skin electrode 44, and when an instruction for measuring the energization resistance is input from the CPU, the energization resistance of the user skin electrode 44 is measured and the measured value is output to the CPU.

  The CPU controls the current-carrying resistance measurement unit as described above and the gains of the gain adjuster 22 and the gain adjuster 25 according to the control program stored in the ROM. The RAM stores data in CPU processing. The ROM stores in advance a CPU control program and a table used for setting a preferable steady target current amount and a current change amount per unit time for the value of the energization resistance.

  The items in the table include the value of the energization resistance, the gain set in the gain adjuster 25, and the gain set in the gain adjuster 22. First, a reference energization resistance value and a preferable current change amount per unit time corresponding thereto are determined. A plurality of energization resistance values are prepared. Then, for each energization resistance value, a ratio α to the reference energization resistance value is calculated, a value of m times α and a value of 1 / n of α are calculated, and each value is calculated. As the gain set in the gain adjuster 25 and the gain set in the gain adjuster 22, a table is created in association with the value of the energization resistance. Here, m and n are positive numbers smaller than 1. The voltage output from the constant value output unit 21 is set to a voltage corresponding to a preferable current change amount per unit time corresponding to the value of the energization resistance serving as the reference.

  The CPU of the current change amount control unit 20 described above operates as follows. First, a measurement instruction for the conduction resistance is output to the conduction resistance measurement unit, and the measurement value is acquired and stored in the RAM. Next, in the table stored in the ROM in advance, the value of the energization resistance equal to the measurement value stored in the RAM is specified, and when there is no equivalent, the closest energization resistance value is specified, and α corresponding to this is multiplied by the m-th power And 1 / nth power of α are acquired. These values are set as the gain of the gain adjuster 25 and the gain of the gain adjuster 22, respectively. Then, a current amount corresponding to a value obtained by multiplying the current command value by α to the mth power is a steady target current amount, and a current amount corresponding to a value obtained by multiplying the value output by the constant value output unit 21 by 1 / αth power. Is the amount of current change per unit time.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is used in an electrical stimulation method and apparatus for stimulating an organ that responds to stimulation including a vestibular sensation and muscle by passing a weak current.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the electrical stimulation apparatus 100 by embodiment of this invention. 3 is a graph showing a current waveform by the electrical stimulation device 100. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electrical stimulation device 110. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of mounting | wearing with the conventional electrical stimulation apparatus 200. FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the polarity of the electric current by the electric stimulator 200, and a walking direction. 5 is a graph showing a walking trajectory in walking guidance using the electrical stimulation device 200. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electrical stimulation device 200. FIG. 5 is a graph showing a current waveform by the electrical stimulation device 200.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Wearer 10 ... Current command value output part 20 ... Current change amount control part 21 ... Constant value output part 22, 25 ... Gain adjuster 23 ... Switch 24 ... Integrator 26 ... Comparator 27 ... User stimulation adjustment knob 30 ... Pre-processing filter unit 31 ... Low-pass filter 32 ... Gain adjuster 40 ... Constant current generation / control unit 41 ... Power source 42 ... Current detector 43 ... Current adjuster 44 ... User skin electrode 44a, 44b ... Skin surface electrode 45 ... Comparator DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 50 ... Adjustment signal generator 60 ... Operation / adjustment changeover switch 90 ... Main body 100, 110, 200 ... Electrical stimulator a, b ... Contact c ... Common contact

Claims (8)

In an electrical stimulation method using an electrical stimulation device that stimulates an organ that responds to stimulation including vestibular sensation and muscle by electrical stimulation via a skin surface electrode,
An electrical stimulation method comprising a step of controlling a current change amount per unit time to a maximum value that does not stimulate skin pain sensation or a value that does not exceed the maximum value. In an electrical stimulation method using an electrical stimulation device that stimulates an organ that responds to stimulation including vestibular sensation and muscle by electrical stimulation via a skin surface electrode,
A process of setting a steady target current amount and a current change amount per unit time from the outside of the electrical stimulation device;
Measuring the amount of current actually flowing, and controlling the current supply so as to achieve the set steady target current amount and the amount of current change per unit time;
An electrical stimulation method characterized by comprising: In an electrical stimulation method using an electrical stimulation device that stimulates an organ that responds to stimulation including vestibular sensation and muscle by electrical stimulation via a skin surface electrode,
Measuring the current resistance of the skin surface electrode before stimulation;
From the steady target current amount and the current change amount per unit time associated with each value of the energization resistance, the steady target current amount and the current change amount per unit time corresponding to the measured energization resistance value And the process of obtaining
Controlling the steady target current amount of the electrical stimulation and the current change amount per unit time to the acquired value;
An electrical stimulation method characterized by comprising:   4. The electricity according to claim 1, wherein the current change amount per unit time is a current change amount per unit time when the current value is increased to a steady target current amount. 5. Stimulation method. In an electrical stimulation device that stimulates organs that respond to stimulation, including vestibular sensation and muscles, by electrical stimulation through skin surface electrodes,
An electrical stimulation apparatus comprising: means for controlling a current change amount per unit time to a maximum value that does not stimulate skin pain sensation or a value that does not exceed the maximum value. In an electrical stimulation device that stimulates organs that respond to stimulation, including vestibular sensation and muscles, by electrical stimulation through skin surface electrodes,
Means for setting a steady target current amount and a current change amount per unit time from the outside of the electrical stimulation device;
Means for controlling the current supply so as to achieve the set steady target current amount and current change amount per unit time by measuring the amount of current actually flowing;
An electrical stimulation device comprising: In an electrical stimulation device that stimulates organs that respond to stimulation, including vestibular sensation and muscles, by electrical stimulation through skin surface electrodes,
Means for measuring the energization resistance of the skin surface electrode prior to stimulation;
From the steady target current amount and the current change amount per unit time associated with each value of the energization resistance, the steady target current amount and the current change amount per unit time corresponding to the measured energization resistance value Means for obtaining
Means for controlling the steady target current amount of the electrical stimulation and the current change amount per unit time to the acquired value;
An electrical stimulation device comprising: 8. The electricity according to claim 5, wherein the current change amount per unit time is a current change amount per unit time when the current value is increased to a steady target current amount. Stimulator.

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