Project Overview
My Relief is a TENS unit mainly aims at improving quality of life of people suffering from chronic pain. We aim to investigate transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation in order to take further steps in developing TENS technology, which can offer a new treatment options for patients with chronic pain. This technology uses electric impulses that passes through the nervous system, reducing its ability to transmit pain signals to the central nervous system. Also, electrical impulses stimulate the body to produce natural pain relievers which is called endorphins. My Relief device is easily operated and controlling using a mobile application.
Background
Using electricity to relieve pain is not new; for example, ancient Egyptians and Romans had used electric catfish from the Nile and placed it on the skin to discharge electricity on painful body parts to ‘numb’ the pain, they use it to cure gout and migraine. Electricity remained unnamed, and not well understood, but had been applied to treat people’s ailments and relieve pain due to the innovative thinking of the ancient Greek medico philosophers, who systematized its employment.
The development of electrostatic generators increased the use of electricity in medicine, although popularity waned in the late nineteenth century because of variable clinical results and the progress of pharmacological treatments. Interest was reawakened in 1965 by Melzack and Wall, who provided a physiological rationale for electro analgesic effects. They proposed that the transmission of noxious information could be inhibited by activity in large diameter peripheral afferents or by activity in pain inhibitory pathways descending from the brain. High-frequency percutaneous electrical stimulation of large diameter peripheral afferents was shown to relieve neuropathic pain and stimulation of dorsal columns to relieve chronic pain. Initially, TENS was used to predict the success of dorsal column stimulation implants until it was realized that TENS could be used as a successful modality on its own.
The development of electrostatic generators increased the use of electricity in medicine, although popularity waned in the late nineteenth century because of variable clinical results and the progress of pharmacological treatments. Interest was reawakened in 1965 by Melzack and Wall, who provided a physiological rationale for electro analgesic effects. They proposed that the transmission of noxious information could be inhibited by activity in large diameter peripheral afferents or by activity in pain inhibitory pathways descending from the brain. High-frequency percutaneous electrical stimulation of large diameter peripheral afferents was shown to relieve neuropathic pain and stimulation of dorsal columns to relieve chronic pain. Initially, TENS was used to predict the success of dorsal column stimulation implants until it was realized that TENS could be used as a successful modality on its own.
Need
- It is a suitable alternative to chemical pain relievers that may lead to addiction with frequent use, especially with chronic pain.
- Some people are allergic to pain relievers such as ibuprofen, paracetamol and other painkillers that may cause them side effects.
- It is highly effective for muscle pain and works to anesthetize it, such as shoulder, back and lower back pain and other muscle pain that may hinder the movement of the person and his daily activity.
- TENS units are also convenient because they are small, portable, and relatively discrete. People can carry a TENS unit in their pocket or clip it onto a belt to ensure that they have immediate access to pain relief throughout the day.
Goals & Objectives
We aim to investigate transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation in order to take further steps in developing TENS technology, which can offer a new treatment options for patients with chronic pain, in addition to presenting an easily operated TENS device using a microcontroller and a mobile application.