KR100353388B1 - The programmable electrical stimulator of portable - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to various types of electrical stimulation patterns from computers in the epidermal stimulation type electric stimulator for treating pains such as neuralgia, low back pain, radial pain, shoulder pain, or restoring the sensation and strength of patients with lower extremity or central nervous system paralysis. It aims to enable various electric stimulation treatments without being restricted in place or time by making it free to download. In order to achieve the above object, the present invention, the interface and the storage means for storing a predetermined number of patterns desired by the user among the plurality of electrical stimulation patterns generated in the computer; A control means for outputting a therapeutic electrical stimulation mode or a massage mode in selecting and outputting one electrical stimulation pattern required by a user from the plurality of electrical stimulation patterns stored in the storage means; It is configured to include an output means for outputting an electrical stimulation waveform corresponding to the electrical stimulation pattern of the anode and cathode output from the control means.

Description

Portable Programmable Electric Stimulator {THE PROGRAMMABLE ELECTRICAL STIMULATOR OF PORTABLE}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to epidermal stimulation type electric stimulators for treating pain such as neuralgia, low back pain, radial pain, shoulder pain, or restoring sensation and muscle strength in patients with lower extremity or central nervous system paralysis. The present invention relates to a portable programmable electric stimulator freely designing and storing a pattern, and downloading an electric stimulation pattern required at an arbitrary place to be used for treatment.

Nervous system disease or damage of the human body leads to impaired motor and sensory functions, and in some cases muscle atrophy or avascular necrosis. Loss of sensory or motor function due to damage to the nervous system is somewhat different depending on the degree of damage, but it is almost impossible to expect a complete recovery in the case of amputation or damage of the central nerve caused by various accidents, and nerves caused by neurological diseases such as stroke Injury also results in partial recovery or long-term dysfunction. Moreover, the loss of motor function and sensory function is limited to even the most basic motion in daily life, and may cause skin atrophy due to muscle atrophy due to inability to use muscle for a long time.

In recent years, several electrical stimulation therapies have been proposed to restore motor function of paralyzed patients due to central nervous system damage. This electrical stimulation therapy prevents paralyzed muscles from contraction, increases muscle contractility, suppresses muscle fatigue, and promotes blood circulation. Representative examples of such electric stimulation therapy include low frequency therapy, interference wave therapy, and functional electrostimulation therapy.

Generally, supplying electricity to living tissues of the human body causes action potentials of nerve cells to cause muscle contraction. For example, when electrical stimulation is applied to specific branches of nerves evenly distributed in the human body, specific muscles contract and thereby cause exercise. Using this principle, by applying electric stimulation to muscles that are no longer able to control their motor function due to nerve damage, they induce exercise, and by appropriately adjusting the strength of force over time to restore such exercise Induce functional stimuli that produce specific movements.

Functional electrical stimulation therapy is mainly used to assist the rehabilitation treatment and motor function of the paralytic muscles of patients with neuropathy due to traffic accidents, industrial accidents, strokes, etc. It is classified into stimulator and epidermal electrode.

Since the insertion electrode type electric stimulator directly applies electric stimulation to the muscle or nerves that govern the muscle, it can selectively cause exercise to the desired muscle, and there is no inconvenience to find the stimulus point every time the stimulus is started. In addition, it has the advantage that it can cause strong muscle contraction even with a low power supply and can be used for a long time without recharging.

However, when using an insertion electrode type electric stimulator, it is inconvenient to pay attention to hygiene because it requires a surgical procedure to insert the electrode and there is a risk of inflammation due to bacterial infection on the wire exposed to the skin. There was this. In addition, there are defects that add cost and add to the mental burden of the patient.

On the other hand, the epidermal electrode type stimulator has the advantages of easy attachment and disassembly of the electrode, no fear of bacterial infection, and low cost for the procedure and psychological burden on the patient.

However, in the case of the electric stimulator according to the prior art, especially in the case of a portable electric stimulator it is possible to provide only a few electric stimulation patterns, there was a defect that the wide and professional treatment is impossible. In addition, in the case of the electric stimulator fixed to the hospital, such as to operate the switch to generate the necessary electric stimulation pattern, there was a difficulty in providing accurate and various types of electric stimulation pattern.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to freely design various types of electrical stimulation patterns by using a computer and store them in a computer or make a database, and to generate electrical stimulation patterns required through a communication network such as the Internet at any place. The present invention provides a portable programmable electric stimulator which can be downloaded to the appropriate electric stimulation treatment.

1 is an exemplary block diagram of a portable programmable electric stimulator according to the present invention.

2 is a generation screen of the electrical stimulation pattern according to the present invention.

3 is a waveform diagram showing variable values for determining an electrical stimulation pattern of an anode;

4 is a waveform diagram showing variable values for determining an electrical stimulation pattern of a cathode.

5 is an explanatory diagram of a transfer process of an electrical stimulation pattern using the Internet.

*** Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings ***

100 : computer 200: electric stimulator

201: microprocessor 202: interface

203: walking sensor 204: output device

205: mode selector 206: time selector

207: serial flash RAM 208: voltage regulator

209: battery power supply 210: display device

1 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a portable programmable electrical stimulation device for achieving the object of the present invention, as shown in the figure, for the design of the positive and negative waveforms on the screen mounted with a program for designing the electrical stimulation pattern Design the electrical stimulation pattern by providing a window and setting the stimulation frequency and pulse period according to the designer's request, and after storing the designed electrical stimulation pattern in a predetermined channel or building a database, the electrical stimulator (200) Computer 100 for downloading the electrical stimulation pattern of the type required by; A plurality of electrical stimulation patterns suitable for restoring muscle sensation and motor function for lower extremity or upper limb paralyzed patients are downloaded and stored from the computer, and the electrical stimulation patterns selected by the user are read and the corresponding electrical stimulation waveforms are generated. It was configured as an electric stimulator 200 to make the electric stimulation treatment.

The electric stimulator 200 stores the electric stimulation pattern transmitted from the computer 100 through an interface (eg, RS-232) 202 in the serial flash RAM 207, and the electric stimulation pattern required by the user. A microprocessor 201 for controlling each part of the system so that the electronic stimulus waveform of the pattern is output from the program 207; A walking sensor 203 for detecting a walking state based on a pressure change between the sole and the contact surface according to the user's walking so that the electric stimulator can be used as a walking aid electric stimulator; An electrical stimulation waveform output device (204) for generating and outputting an electrical stimulation waveform of a corresponding pattern based on the frequency for the anode and the cathode for the frequency output from the microprocessor (201); A mode selection unit 205 having a selection switch for generating a stimulation pattern in a computer and storing the stimulation pattern in a portable electric stimulation pattern and outputting a selection signal for selecting a treatment pattern required by a user from any electric stimulation pattern; A time selector 206 for setting a use time of the electric stimulator 200; A voltage adjusting unit 208 for adjusting the intensity of the electrical stimulation; A battery power supply unit 209 having a battery charging and protection function; The display device 210 displays the operation state of the electric stimulator and the state of the battery.

The microprocessor 201 includes: a timer 201A for generating a stimulus pulse wave corresponding to a mode selected by the mode selector 205; A watchdog timer 201B which monitors the operation state of the microprocessor 201 and automatically returns to the operation stop state; An A / D converter 201C for converting the analog voltage detected through the battery protection unit 209C into a digital value so as to confirm the remaining power of the battery 209A; An input / output port 201D for outputting an anode, a cathode waveform signal, a switching control signal, display data, and the like for generating an electrical stimulation waveform.

When described in detail with reference to Figures 2 to 5 attached to the operation of the present invention configured as described above are as follows.

First, a process of generating an electrical stimulation pattern using the computer 100 will be described.

When a doctor, a user, or a patient starts the stimulation pattern design program mounted on the computer 10, a window for setting respective variables for the positive and negative waveforms is displayed at the top of the screen as shown in FIG. At the bottom, a window for designing the positive and negative waveforms is displayed.

In this state, the stimulation frequency (eg 40Hz), pulse width (eg 0.2msec) and time scale (eg 40sec) of the positive and negative waveforms are set in the pattern setting window, and the serial port (eg : COM). In addition, by designing the envelope of the electrical stimulation pattern in the desired form by operating the mouse in the window for setting the anode waveform, and similarly to the envelope of the electrical stimulation pattern in the desired form by operating the mouse in the window for setting the cathode waveform Design

When the envelope is designed in this way, the set parameters are automatically applied to the envelope to complete the electrical stimulation pattern of the desired shape. In this case, when the preview item is clicked, the waveform of the completed shape as shown in FIG. Is displayed. If the waveform is not satisfactory and is clicked on the cancel item (Cancel), it is deleted as it is. However, if no problem is found, clicking the download item (Save) is stored in the preset channel (memory area).

3 is a waveform diagram illustrating variable values for determining an electrical stimulation pattern of a positive electrode among the electrical stimulation patterns generated on the computer 100. here,

Vuu (H): Voltage at which the stimulus voltage peaks.

Vuu (L): Voltage where the stimulus voltage reaches the minimum

Su (up): Time when the stimulus voltage rises

Su (dn): Time when the stimulus voltage falls

Vud (H): Peak voltage when the stimulus voltage falls

Wu (on): Width of stimulation pulse

Wu (off): Time when no stimulus is made

St (up): Time that is kept constant

D (t): non-stimulation time, the intermediate time of phase shift from quantum pole to negative stimulus

4 is a waveform diagram illustrating variable values for determining an electrical stimulation pattern of a cathode among the electrical stimulation patterns generated on the computer 100. here,

Vdu (H): The voltage at which the negative stimulus voltage peaks.

Vdu (L): Voltage at which the negative stimulus voltage reaches the minimum

Sd (up): time when the negative stimulus voltage rises

Sd (dn): time that the negative stimulus voltage falls

Vdd (H): Peak voltage when negative stimulus voltage falls

Wd (on): width of negative stimulation pulse

Wd (off): Time when no sound stimulation is made

St (down): The time the sound stimulus is kept constant

As another embodiment of the present invention, when a doctor or a stimulator company makes a database of stimulation patterns generated through the above process and accesses the database on the Internet 501 as shown in FIG. After checking the various electrical stimulation patterns on the Internet irrespective of the predetermined number of electrical stimulation patterns (for example, 10) can be downloaded to the electrical stimulator 200 and used.

Meanwhile, the electrical stimulation pattern required from the Internet or the computer 100 is downloaded to the electrical stimulator 200 and stored in the serial flash RAM 207, and the electrical stimulation waveform of the pattern is read by reading the electrical stimulation pattern required by the user. The process of printing is as follows.

When the current electrical stimulation pattern is to be stored in the computer 100 or to build a database, select the save button on the main screen. If you want to read the already recorded electrical stimulation pattern and store it in the electrical stimulator 200, select the load button, the electrical stimulation pattern is stored in the serial flash RAM 207 through the interface 202, this operation The predetermined number of times (for example, ten times) is repeated to store the required number of electric stimulation patterns (for example, ten).

The reason why the serial flash ram 207 is used as described above is to prevent the stored electric stimulation pattern from being erased when the power is suddenly turned off or the battery 209A is replaced. However, when the user selects the download mode, the user can change the already stored contents.

When the patient wants to receive the electric stimulation treatment, the electrode part (not shown in the drawing) connected to the output terminal (OUTPUT) of the electric stimulator 200 is fixed to the electrode part on the part to be treated in the lower limb or upper limb, and the gait sensor ( 203) on the bottom or inside of the shoe and turn on the power switch.

The mode selection unit 205 is provided with a selection switch, and generates an electrical stimulation pattern from a computer and outputs a selection signal corresponding to a mode selected by a user from among a plurality of treatment modes stored and set to the microprocessor 201. . The functional electrical stimulation mode is a mode that operates in conjunction with the walking sensor 203, the first functional electrical stimulation mode in which the electrical stimulation is made when the switch of the walking sensor 203 is short-circuited, and the first operating when falling There are two functional electric stimulation modes.

The time selector 206 is for setting the use time of the electric stimulator 200, and the voltage adjustor 208 is for adjusting the intensity of the electric stimulator. In addition, the battery power supply unit 209 is provided with a charging unit 209B so that the battery 209A can be charged, and the battery protection unit 209C is provided to prevent components from being damaged by overload or the like.

In addition, the display device 210 is for displaying the operation state of the electric stimulator and the state of the battery. The green light is turned on when the device is in operation, the red light is turned on when the battery is discharged, and the green light is turned on when the charging is completed. do.

In addition, the microprocessor 201 uses a timer 201A, a watchdog timer 201B, and an A / D converter 201C as internal components, and the timer 201A is configured by the mode selection unit 205. It performs a function of generating a stimulus pulse wave corresponding to the selected mode, the watchdog timer 201B monitors the operation state of the microprocessor 201 and automatically returns to the operation stop state, The A / D converter 201C performs a function of converting the analog voltage detected through the battery protection unit 209C into a digital value so as to confirm the remaining power supply of the battery 209A.

When a user sets a desired mode through each of the selection devices and operates a switch provided in the mode selection unit 205 to select one electric stimulation pattern from the ten electric stimulation patterns stored in the serial flash ram 207. The digital signals corresponding to the corresponding patterns are output from the two output ports of the microprocessor 201 and supplied to the digital (D) / analog (A) converters 204A and 204B, respectively.

The digital signal output from one output port of the microprocessor 201 is a signal for controlling the positive voltage of the electrical stimulation waveform, and the digital signal output from the other output port is a signal for controlling the negative voltage of the electrical stimulation waveform. .

The D / A converters 204A and 204B convert the digital signals output from the two output ports into analog signals and output the analog signals, and the voltages of the analog signals output through the voltage controllers 204C and 204D are output. It is adjusted to the required level. The output voltages of the voltage controllers 204C and 204D are boosted to AC voltages (0 to 100V: 500 Ω load) at a level capable of skin stimulation through the boosters 204E and 204F.

The AC voltage thus boosted is rectified by the rectifier 204G, and the rectified voltage is switched in the predetermined pattern by the timer 201C of the microprocessor 201 in the switching unit 204H. Accordingly, the electrical stimulation waveform of the pattern is supplied to the treatment site through the output terminal OUTPUT, the protection unit 204I, and the electrode unit. Here, the protection unit 204I is used to prevent the overvoltage / overcurrent flow into the human body.

As described in detail above, the present invention provides accurate and various forms of electrical stimulation by allowing a doctor or a user to select a basic frequency or waveform type on a computer screen and graphically design using a mouse. There is an effect that can easily generate a stimulus pattern.

In addition, various types of electrical stimulation patterns are made into a database so that the patterns needed by the patient can be checked on the screen, and then downloaded and used on a portable electric stimulator, thereby providing a suitable electrical stimulation pattern for the patient regardless of time or place. It can work.

In addition, it is possible to use the low-frequency treatment function for the treatment of pain and the electrical stimulation function for the paralyzed patients at the same time only by registering the stimulation pattern without a separate conversion, thereby improving the utility of the equipment.

Claims (6)

An interface and storage means for downloading a plurality of patterns desired by a user from among a plurality of computer generated electrical stimulation patterns and storing them in the interior of the electrical stimulator; Control means for selecting and outputting one electrical stimulation pattern required by a user from the plurality of electrical stimulation patterns stored in the storage means; A portable programmable electric stimulator comprising an output means for outputting an electric stimulation waveform corresponding to the electric stimulation pattern of the positive electrode and the negative electrode output from the control means. The computer of claim 1, wherein the computer provides a window for designing the envelope waveforms of the positive and negative electrodes on the screen, and sets a parameter such as the stimulus frequency and the pulse period according to the designer's request. A portable programmable electrical stimulator, characterized in that it is equipped with a program that supports the completion of the electrical stimulation pattern by applying the set parameters to the envelope to design. The portable programmable electric stimulator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the computer makes a database of a plurality of designed electric stimulation patterns. The portable programmable electric stimulator according to claim 1, wherein the computer is connected to the Internet so as to receive a necessary electric stimulation pattern from the outside. The portable programmable electric stimulator according to claim 1, wherein the storage means is a serial flash ram. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output means comprises: D / A converters 204A and 204B for converting digital signals for positive and negative waveform generation respectively output from two output ports of the control means into analog signals; Voltage controllers 204C and 204D for modifying the voltages of the analog signals output from the D / A converters 204A and 204B to the required levels; Boosting units (204E) and (204F) for boosting the output voltages of the voltage control units (204C) and (204D) to an alternating voltage of a level capable of skin stimulation; A rectifier 204G for rectifying the output AC voltages of the boosters 204E and 204F; A switching unit 204H for outputting an electric stimulation pattern of a corresponding pattern by switching the output voltage of the rectifying unit 204G with a switching control signal input from the control unit; Portable programmable electric stimulator comprising an electrode unit for transmitting the output voltage of the switching unit (204H) to the corresponding muscle part of the patient.