Electrical Stimulation Device

Abstract

To provide an electrical stimulation device capable of preventing the upper body of a user from falling backward when the user is seated. [Solution] The device is provided with a device body 2 whose upper surface 2a is a seating surface 30, and two pairs of electrodes 4, 5, where one electrode 4A in one pair and one electrode 5A in the other pair are provided between a front part 3 and a rear part 28 of the device body 2 in a state of being exposed from the seating surface 30, and the other electrodes 4B, 5B in both pairs are attached to the front part 3 of the device body 2 via cords 13B, 14B. The seating surface 30 of the device body 2 is inclined so as to become higher from the front part 3 to the rear part 28, with the lower surface 2b of the device body 2 as a reference.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates primarily to an electrical stimulation device for strengthening the pelvic floor muscles. [Background technology]

[0002] Electrical stimulation devices that apply a stimulating current to the pelvic floor muscles through two pairs of electrodes to passively contract the muscles are being developed. When the function of the pelvic floor muscles is reduced, symptoms such as urinary incontinence occur, and even if these symptoms are improved by muscle strengthening training of the pelvic floor muscles, it is not easy to do so accurately and continuously, and the improvement effect is small. Specifically, as shown in Patent Document 1, such an electrical stimulation device is provided with a device body whose upper surface is a horizontal seating surface, and two pairs of electrodes for supplying a stimulating current to a living body, and one electrode of one of the two pairs and one electrode of the other of the two pairs are provided between the front and rear of the device body in a state exposed from the seating surface of the device body, and the other electrodes of both pairs are attached to the front of the device body via a cord for supplying the stimulating current. When using the device, in order to supply a stimulating current to the pelvic floor muscles, the user sits on the seating surface with their buttocks (skin) so that one of the electrodes in each pair is brought into contact with the user's buttocks (skin), while the other electrode in each pair is attached to the user's lower abdomen (skin). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 7535168 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the above-mentioned electrical stimulation device, since the seat surface of the device body is horizontal, when the user sits on the seat surface and tilts his / her upper body slightly backward from the vertical state relative to the seat surface, a moment is generated that tries to rotate the upper body of the user backward around the buttocks, and the moment becomes larger as the user's upper body tilts backward. Therefore, when the user sits in an unnatural position or when the user inadvertently tilts backward while sitting, the upper body may fall backward.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has an object to provide an electrical stimulation device that can prevent the upper body of a user from falling backwards when the user is seated.

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following configurations (1) to (5).

[0007] (1) An electrical stimulation device comprising a device body having a seating surface on its upper surface, and two pairs of electrodes for supplying a stimulating current to a living body, one electrode in one of the two pairs and one electrode in the other of the two pairs being provided between the front and rear of the device body in a state exposed from the seating surface of the device body, and the other electrodes in both pairs being attached to the front of the device body via a cord for supplying the stimulating current; The seating surface of the device body is inclined so as to become higher from the front of the device body toward the rear of the device body, with the lower surface of the device body as a reference. And, one of the electrodes in each pair is protruded so as to form a step with respect to the seating surface of the device body, The seating surface of the device body is set to maintain an inclined state of the seating surface even when a user is seated. It is considered to be composed.

[0008] According to this configuration, when the user's buttocks are seated on the seating surface, the seating surface inclines so that the user's upper body assumes a tilted posture tilted forward with respect to the vertical line, and a moment is generated that tries to rotate the upper body forward with the buttocks as the center. Therefore, the user's upper body is prevented from tilting backward beyond the vertical line compared to when the buttocks are seated on a horizontal seating surface, and the upper body of the user is prevented from falling backward.

[0009] Also, One of the electrodes in each pair is protruded so as to form a step with respect to the seating surface of the device body. Therefore, when the user's buttocks are seated on the seating surface, one of the electrodes in each pair is pressed into the user's buttocks (the buttocks are bent and bitten into). Therefore, the user can feel the contact between the one of the electrodes in each pair and the buttocks and the contact position, and can confirm that one of the electrodes in each pair is properly contacted with the user's buttocks. On the other hand, the load of the user when seated (mainly the load of the upper body, head, and buttocks) is divided into a component force parallel to the seating surface and a component force perpendicular to the seating surface based on the inclined seating surface, and the component force perpendicular to the seating surface can be reduced compared to when the user's buttocks are seated on a horizontal seating surface. Therefore, while it is possible to confirm that one of the electrodes in each pair is properly abutted against the user's buttocks, it is possible to prevent the electrode from being pressed into the user's buttocks (causing the buttocks to bend and dig in), thereby reducing the discomfort felt by the user.

[0010]

[0011] (2) As mentioned above (1) Under the configuration of An elastic body is interposed between one of the electrodes in each pair and the device body.

[0012] According to this configuration, the presence of the elastic body allows the amount of protrusion of each electrode from the seating surface to be increased, and even if the user's legs are long and the electrodes have not been able to contact the buttocks reliably when seated, the possibility of each electrode contacting the buttocks of the user can be increased. On the other hand, if each electrode contacts the buttocks without any problem when seated, the elasticity of the elastic body can be used to push each electrode into the device body with the buttocks. Therefore, it is possible to improve the compatibility of contacting each electrode with the buttocks when the height of the seating surface of the device body is constant. (3) Under the above mentioned (2) structure, A pair of holding holes opening from the seating surface are formed in the device body, one electrode in each pair is held in each of the retaining holes in a state where the electrode protrudes from the seating surface, The elastic body has a lower elastic modulus than a member constituting the seating surface, The elastic body is interposed between one of the electrodes in each of the pairs and the bottom of each of the holding holes which holds the one of the electrodes.

[0013] (4) The aforementioned (1) Under the configuration of A pedestal is provided to be placed on the floor, The device body is placed on an upper surface of the base, The height of the seating surface of the device body is configured to be a height that allows a user to sit on the seating surface with their feet in contact with the floor surface.

[0014] According to this configuration, when sitting, the user can brace himself / herself with his / her feet by placing them on the floor surface, and even if the inclination angle of the seating surface is increased, the user can sit on the seating surface without slipping off the seating surface. Therefore, the setting range of the inclination angle of the seating surface in the device main body can be expanded toward the increasing side, and the device main body can provide various inclination angles of the seating surface. Moreover, in this case, the more the device main body with a higher inclination angle of the seating surface is used, the more it can prevent each electrode from pressing into the user's buttocks (digging into the buttocks by bending them).

[0015] (5) Under the above mentioned construction (4), The inclination angle of the seating surface of the device body is adjustable.

[0016] According to this configuration, the user can determine the inclination angle of the seating surface when sitting, thereby increasing the degree of freedom of the user's sitting posture. Effect of the Invention

[0017] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an electrical stimulation device that can prevent the upper body of a user from falling backwards when the user is seated. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an electrical stimulation device according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the device main body according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the device main body according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4]FIG. 2 is a front view showing the device main body according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a rear view showing the device main body according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a left side view showing the device main body according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a bottom view showing the device main body according to the first embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the device main body according to the first embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of applying a stimulus by an interference low-frequency wave. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the internal structure of the device main body according to the first embodiment. [Figure 11] 1 is a diagram showing a state in which a user is seated on a horizontal seat surface and the upper body of the user is tilted backward from a vertical state; [Figure 12] 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating the effect of preventing the upper body of a user from falling backwards based on an inclined seating surface. [Figure 13] 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating the effect of preventing the electrodes from digging into the user's buttocks based on an inclined seating surface. [Figure 14] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0020] In Fig. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an electrical stimulation device according to an embodiment. The electrical stimulation device 1 includes a stool (round chair) S as a base placed on a floor surface F, a disk-shaped device body 2 placed on the upper surface of the stool S, and two pairs of electrodes 4, 5 (represented by the reference numerals representing the electrodes of each pair) provided on the device body 2.

[0021] As an example of the use of the device body 2, the stool S is used to enable a user to sit on the device body 2 while holding the device body 2 at a certain height from the floor surface F. For this reason, the stool S has an upper surface on which the device body 2 can be placed, and has a height at which the soles of the user's feet can touch the floor surface F when the user sits on the upper surface of the stool S via the device body 2. Specifically, the upper surface of the stool S is formed into a circular plane having a diameter approximately equal to the diameter of the device body 2 so that the device body 2 can be placed accurately, and the height from the floor surface F is set to, for example, about 40 cm to 50 cm. In this embodiment, the stool S is composed of an upper cylinder (lidded cylinder) S1 and a lower cylinder S2 (bottomed cylinder) that expands and contracts with respect to the inner circumferential surface of the upper cylinder S1 in a screw-engaged relationship based on a screw mechanism sm, and the height from the floor surface F of the upper surface of the upper cylinder S1, which is the upper surface of the stool S, is adjusted by adjusting the expansion and contraction of the upper cylinder S1 relative to the lower cylinder S2. Moreover, the stool S has an internal space formed by the upper cylinder S1 and the lower cylinder S2, and this internal space serves as a storage space to store related parts of the device main body 2, such as a battery when the indoor power source is not used as a power source during use of the device main body 2. Although not shown in FIG. 1, it is preferable to provide a holding means for holding the device main body 2 on the upper surface of the stool S.

[0022] The stool S is not necessarily used as an essential element in the electrical stimulation device 1. The device body 2 has compactness, ease of transport, etc., and by utilizing these, the device body 2 can be used in a freely selected location. For example, the device body 2 can be used by placing it on a tatami mat, a floor surface F, a sofa, a bench, a pedestal, etc.

[0023] The disk-shaped device main body 2 is flattened by stacking a disk-shaped upper member 16 and a disk-shaped lower member 17 as shown in Figs. 2 to 6. As a result, the upper surface of the upper member 16 is the upper surface 2a of the device main body 2, the lower surface of the lower member 17 is the lower surface 2b of the device main body 2, and the outer peripheral surface of the upper member 16 and the outer peripheral surface of the lower member 17 are the outer peripheral surface 2c of the device main body 2. A horizontal and flat mounting surface 29 is formed on the lower surface 2b of the device main body 2 from the center of its diameter to a peripheral edge 2bb on the radially outer side, and the peripheral edge 2bb of the lower surface 2b is configured to face upward as it goes radially outward. A flat seating surface 30 is formed on the upper surface 2a of the device main body 2 from the center of its diameter to a peripheral edge 2aa on the radially outer side, and the peripheral edge 2aa of the upper surface 2a is configured to face downward as it goes radially outward. For this reason, the thickness of the peripheral portion of the device body 2 (the distance between the upper surface 2a and the lower surface 2b) is shortened as it moves radially outward of the device body, and the peripheral portion of the device body 2 has a thickness that makes it easy for a user to grasp for transport.

[0024] The flat seating surface 30 of the device main body 2 is inclined with respect to the horizontal and flat placement surface 29 (lower surface 2b) as shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 6. The side of the device main body 2 where the vertical distance between the seating surface 30 of the device main body 2 and the placement surface 29 is the widest is the rear part 28, and the side arranged opposite to the rear part 28 where the vertical distance between the seating surface 30 of the device main body 2 and the placement surface 29 is the narrowest is the front part 3. The larger the inclination angle θ, the better from the viewpoint of preventing the upper body from falling backward and preventing the electrodes 4 and 5 from digging in, which will be described later. However, in this embodiment, the inclination angle θ is set to a predetermined value (e.g., 2°) within a range of 5° to 0°, taking into consideration seating comfort.

[0025] As shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 6, the front part 3 of the device main body 2 has an upper surface 3a that is raised higher than the height of the seating surface 30. The upper surface 3a of the front part 3 extends in the circumferential direction of the upper surface 2a with a length that fits between the thighs of the user when the user sits on the seating surface 30, and its radial length (width) is made longer from both sides in the extending direction toward the center in the extending direction. Therefore, the front upper surface 3a and the seating surface 30 are partitioned by the arc-shaped raised wall of the front part 3. On the front upper surface 3a, as shown in Figs. 1 to 3, a control panel section 31 is formed so as to extend in the horizontal direction. On the control panel section 31, a power switch SW1, an intensity display D, an intensity decrease switch SW2, and an intensity increase switch SW3 are provided so as to be aligned in the horizontal direction, and the power switch SW1, the intensity decrease switch SW2, and the intensity increase switch SW3 are all push-type switches. The power switch SW1 determines whether the device 1 is ON or OFF, and starts the operation of the sine wave generating circuits 7, 8 and the amplifier circuits 9, 10, which will be described later, while the intensity increase switch SW3 and the intensity decrease switch SW2 adjust the intensity by increasing or decreasing the current. The intensity display D shows the current intensity state in numbers in response to the pressing of the intensity increase switch SW2 or the intensity decrease switch SW3.

[0026] The device main body 2 includes, in its front part 3, a stimulation current supply adjustment unit 6 that supplies a stimulation current to two pairs of electrodes 4, 5 (shown as representative symbols of each pair of electrodes) as shown in FIG. 8. In this embodiment, the stimulation current supply adjustment unit 6 is configured to obtain a low-frequency stimulation current by interfering with medium frequencies having different frequencies (interference low-frequency type). For this reason, the stimulation current supply adjustment unit 6 includes, as shown in FIG. 8, a first sine wave generating circuit 7 as a first stimulation current supply means, a second sine wave generating circuit 8 as a second stimulation current supply means, an amplifier circuit (amplifying circuit) 9 connected to the first sine wave generating circuit 7, and an amplifier circuit (amplifying circuit) 10 connected to the second sine wave generating circuit 8. Each of the sine wave generating circuits 7 and 8 generates a sine wave of a medium frequency (for example, 2500 to 10000 Hz), and in this embodiment, the first sine wave generating circuit 7 generates a sine wave of 5000 Hz, and the second sine wave generating circuit 8 generates a sine wave of 5020 Hz. The frequency (20 Hz in this embodiment) of the difference between the frequencies of the medium frequencies generated by the sine wave generating circuits 7 and 8 is the frequency of the interference low frequency. The amplifier circuit 9 adjusts the output of the sine wave generated by the first sine wave generating circuit 7 and supplies it to a pair of electrodes 4A, 4B in one of the two pairs, and the amplifier circuit 10 adjusts the output of the sine wave generated by the second sine wave generating circuit 8 and supplies it to a pair of electrodes 5A, 5B in the other of the two pairs.

[0027] As a result, a stimulation current of, for example, 5000 Hz is supplied from the first sine wave generating circuit 7 to the electrodes 4A and 4B in one pair (see FIG. 9(a)), while a stimulation current of 5020 Hz is supplied from the second sine wave generating circuit 8 to the electrodes 5A and 5B in the other pair (see FIG. 9(b)). As a result, a low frequency interference wave is obtained as shown in FIG. 9(c).

[0028] As shown in Fig. 8, a controller (control unit) U for controlling the stimulation current supply adjustment unit 6 is also housed in the front part 3 of the device main body 2. The controller U is configured using a microcomputer, and input signals are inputted to the controller U from the power switch SW1, the intensity increase switch SW3, and the intensity decrease switch SW2 described above, while the controller U outputs control signals such as ON / OFF switching control signals to the sine wave generating circuits 7, 8, and ON / OFF control and output large / small switching control signals to the amplifier circuits 9, 10. As a result, when the power switch SW1 is in the ON state, two pairs of electrodes 4, 5 form a pair to generate a stimulation current of a predetermined intensity and a low interference frequency.

[0029] 1 to 4 and 6, one electrode 4A of the pair of electrodes 4A, 4B in the one set and one electrode 5A of the pair of electrodes 5A, 5B in the other set are provided on the seating surface 30 of the device main body 2. In this embodiment, each of the electrodes 4A, 5A is a disk-shaped electrode, and each of the electrodes 4A, 5A is disposed at a predetermined interval in the lateral direction (left-right direction in FIG. 3) in the user's buttocks seating region of the seating surface 30 with its flat upper surface exposed outward.

[0030] In this embodiment, one of the electrodes 4A, 5A in each pair is held in a holding hole 12 formed on the upper surface 2a of the device body 2, as shown in Fig. 10. One side of each of the electrodes 4A, 5A in the thickness direction (vertical direction in Fig. 10) is embedded in the holding hole 12, and the other side of each electrode 4A, 5A in the thickness direction protrudes from the surface 2a of the device body 2 so as to form a slight step. One end of each of the cords 13A, 14A for passing a stimulating current to one side of the electrodes 4A, 5A in the thickness direction is connected to each of the electrodes 4A, 5A, and the other end of each of the cords 13A, 14A passes through the inside of the device body 2 and is connected to a stimulating current supply adjustment unit 6 in the device body 2. 10, the upper member 16 of the device body 2 is formed with the retaining holes 12 and the communication holes 18 extending downward from the retaining holes 12, while the lower member 17 is formed with a groove 19 continuing into the front part 3, and a cord passage 20 is formed based on the laminated structure of the lower member 17 and the upper member 16. By passing the cord 13A (14A) through the communication hole 18 and the cord passage 20, the electrodes 4A, 5A are connected to the stimulation current supply adjustment unit 6 (amplifier circuits 9, 10) in the device body 2 via the cords 13A, 14A.

[0031] As shown in Figs. 1 to 4, a connection port 21 is provided on the front surface 3b (2c) of the front part 3 among the outer peripheral surface 2c of the device main body 2. The cords 13B and 14B are connected to the connection port 21 via a connector 32, and the other electrode 4B of the pair of electrodes 4 in the one set and the other electrode 5B of the pair of electrodes 5 in the other set are connected to the tip of the cords 13B and 14B. In this case, the other electrode 4B in one set is connected to the amplifier circuit 9 via the cord 13B to be paired with the one electrode 4A in the same set, and the other electrode 5B in the other set is connected to the amplifier circuit 10 via the cord 14B to be paired with the one electrode 5A in the same set. In addition, the cords 13B and 14B are integrated from the connector 32 to be in a single cord state for a certain length. 4 to 7, reference numeral 33 denotes mounting holes for mounting the upper member 16 and the lower member 17, and reference numeral 34 denotes a screw used in each mounting hole 33. Also, in Fig. 5, reference numeral 35 denotes a power supply port for inserting a connector for a power line from an indoor power source.

[0032] When using such an electrical stimulation device 1, the user uses the front part 3 of the device body 2 as a landmark, faces backward relative to the front part 3, and sits on the seating surface 30 of the device body 2 with the buttocks straddling the front part 3. This brings the desired position of the user's buttocks into contact with the electrodes 4A, 5A of the seating surface 30, and the user feels this by the contact between the electrodes 4A, 5A protruding from the seating surface 30 and the buttocks.

[0033] After this, with the power switch SW1 turned ON, the electrode surfaces of the other electrodes 4B, 5B of each pair are placed against the user's left and right lower abdominal areas at a specified distance. Inside the user's body, the stimulation current flowing between the pair of electrodes 4 in one pair and the stimulation current flowing between the pair of electrodes 5 in the other pair will intersect, generating an interference low-frequency stimulation current, and the strong stimulation from this interference low-frequency stimulation current will strengthen the pelvic floor muscles.

[0034] In such an electrical stimulation device 1, some effort is made to prevent the upper body from falling backwards.

[0035] The left side of FIG. 11 shows a schematic diagram of a state in which a user 40 sits on the horizontal seating surface 30 of the device main body 2. In this case, since the seating surface 30 is in a horizontal state, the upper body 41 of the user 40 stands upright (vertical) on the seating surface 30, and the load W1 of the upper body 41 (including the head 42) acts vertically along the upper body toward the seating surface 3. For this reason, no moment is generated in the upper body 41. However, as shown in the right side of FIG. 11, when the upper body 41 leans backward even slightly, a moment in the counterclockwise direction is generated. That is, when the length from the buttocks 43 as the fulcrum to the center of gravity O of the upper body as the force point is L, and the inclination angle from the vertical state of the upper body (vertical line V) is θ1, a moment M in the counterclockwise direction is generated in the right side of FIG. 11, as M=W1×L·sinθ1. Therefore, if the upper body is inclined backward by mistake while sitting, there is an increased risk that the upper body 41 will fall over.

[0036] In contrast, in this embodiment, the seating surface 30 of the device main body 2 is inclined so that the rear part 28 is higher than the front part 3, and therefore when the user 40 sits on the seating surface 30, the upper body 41 is inclined clockwise from the vertical line V in FIG. 12. If the inclination angle at this time is θ2, a clockwise moment M in FIG. 12 is generated in the upper body 41, M=W1×L·sinθ2, and based on this moment, an action in the direction of tipping the upper body 41 forward acts. Therefore, the risk of the upper body 41 tipping backward is significantly lower than when the seating surface 30 is horizontal.

[0037] Furthermore, in this electrical stimulation device 1, some effort has been made to prevent one of the electrodes 4A, 5A of each pair from digging into the buttocks.

[0038] As described above, since one of the electrodes 4A, 5A of each pair protrudes from the seating surface 30, when the user sits down, the user can feel the contact and contact position of each of the electrodes 4A, 5A, but the one of the electrodes 4A, 5A will dig into the user's buttocks to some extent. However, in this embodiment, since the seating surface 30 of the device main body 2 is inclined, when the user's buttocks are seated on the seating surface 30, the force that digs into the buttocks based on the load W3 of the upper body, head, and buttocks can be reduced, and the discomfort caused by the digging in of each of the electrodes 4A, 5A can be reduced. This will be specifically described with reference to FIG. 13.

[0039] If the load W3 of the upper body 41, head 42, and buttocks 43 of the user 40 acting perpendicularly to the seating surface 30 is related to the bite of each of the electrodes 4A, 5A into the buttocks 43, when the user sits on the horizontal seating surface 30 of the device main body 2, the load W3 acts perpendicularly to the horizontal seating surface 30, and therefore acts directly to bite each of the electrodes 4A, 5A into the buttocks. In contrast, in this embodiment, since the seating surface 30 of the device main body 2 is inclined, when the buttocks 43 of the user 40 sits on the seating surface 30, the load W3 of the upper body 41, head 42, and buttocks 43 is divided into a component force P1 parallel to the seating surface 30 and a component force P2 perpendicular to the seating surface 30, as shown in FIG. In this case, if the angle formed by the acting direction of the component force P2 perpendicular to the seating surface 30 with respect to the acting direction of the load W3 is θ3, the component force P2 perpendicular to the seating surface 30 is P2=W3cosθ3, and the force related to the one electrode 4A, 5A digging into the buttocks 43 can be reduced compared to when the buttocks 43 of the user 40 is seated on the horizontal seating surface 30. Therefore, while it is confirmed that the one electrode 4A, 5A is appropriately abutted against the buttocks 43 of the user 40, the one electrode 4A, 5A is prevented from being pressed into the buttocks 43 of the user 40 (digging into the buttocks by bending them), and the discomfort of the user can be reduced.

[0040] In this case, the larger the inclination angle θ of the seating surface 30, the larger the component force P1 (=W3 sin θ3) parallel to the seating surface 30 becomes, and the angle θ3 between the acting direction of the component force P2 perpendicular to the seating surface 30 and the acting direction (vertical direction) of the load W3 becomes larger. Accordingly, the component force P2 perpendicular to the seating surface 30 becomes smaller, and the force related to the bite of each of the electrodes 4A, 5A into the buttocks further decreases. For this reason, the larger the inclination angle θ of the seating surface 30, the more preferable it is, not only from the viewpoint of preventing the upper body 41 from falling backward, but also from the viewpoint of preventing discomfort caused by the bite of each of the electrodes 4A, 5A into the buttocks 43. At this time, the component force P1 parallel to the seating surface 30 increases as the inclination angle θ of the seating surface 30 increases, and the buttocks 43 of the user 40 tend to slide down along the seating surface 30, but the user 40's feet 44 are in contact with the floor surface F and can brace themselves, so the component force P1 parallel to the seating surface 30 can be received. Therefore, the inclination angle θ of the seating surface 30 can be set within a wide range. Accordingly, the device main body 2 can be provided with multiple types of inclination angles θ of the seating surface 30.

[0041] The second embodiment shown in FIG. 14 shows a modified example of the first embodiment. In the second embodiment, one electrode 4A (5A) is embedded in the holding hole 12 via an elastic body 47, and the elastic body 47 is interposed between each one electrode 4A (5A) and the device main body 2. This makes it possible to increase the amount of protrusion of each one electrode 4A (5A) from the seating surface 30 based on the thickness of the elastic body 47, and even if the user's legs are long and the one electrode 4A (5A) could not be reliably abutted against the buttocks when sitting, it is possible to increase the possibility that each one electrode 4A (5A) will abut against the buttocks of the user. On the other hand, if each one electrode 4A (5A) abuts without any problem when sitting, the elasticity of the elastic body 47 can be used to push each one electrode 4A (5A) into the device main body 2 by the buttocks when sitting. Therefore, with the seating surface 30 of the device main body 2 at a constant height, it is possible to improve compatibility with various users with different body sizes by abutting each one of the electrodes 4A (5A) against the buttocks.

[0042] Although the embodiment has been described above, the present invention includes the following aspects. (1) The device 1 (stimulation current supply adjustment unit 6) supplies various stimulation currents, not limited to low-frequency interference stimulation currents, to each pair of electrodes 4, 5 in each set. For example, a low-frequency (e.g., 1 to 200 Hz) stimulation current, a medium-frequency (e.g., 2500 to 10000 Hz) stimulation current, or a current that alternates between a low-frequency interference stimulation current and a medium-frequency stimulation current may be appropriately supplied. (2) Regarding the cord 13B connecting the other electrode 4B and the cord 14B connecting the other electrode 5B, the colors of the cords 13B and 14B are made different to enable differentiation between the cords 13B and 14B. (3) The electrode surface of each of the electrodes 4A, 5A is flush with the seating surface 30 of the device body 2 (does not protrude). (4) The inclination angle θ of the seating surface 30 of the device main body 2 can be adjusted. In this case, the upper member 16 itself constituting the seating surface 30 can be supported so as to be able to rise and fall relative to the lower member 17, and the rising and falling of the upper member 16 can be adjusted using a link mechanism operated by operating the operating unit, or the upper surface constituent member of the stool (base) S can be raised and lowered by the same configuration as above, thereby adjusting the inclination angle θ of the seating surface 30 of the device main body 2 placed on the upper surface constituent member of the stool (base) S. [Industrial Applicability]

[0043] The present invention may be utilized when using an electrical stimulation device to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, with the user's upper body falling backwards when seated. [Explanation of symbols]

[0044] 1 Electrical stimulation device 2. Device body 2a Top surface of device body 2 2b Underside of device body 2 3 Front of the device 4. A pair of electrodes in one set 4A One electrode in one set 4B The other electrode in one pair 5. The other pair of electrodes 5A One electrode in the other set 5B The other electrode in the other set 13B Code for the other electrode 4B in one set 14B Code for the other electrode 5B in the other set 28 Rear of the device 30 Seating surface 47 Elastic Body F Floor S stool (pedestal) θ Inclination angle of seating surface

Claims

1. An electrical stimulation device comprising: a device body having a seating surface on an upper surface thereof; and two pairs of electrodes for supplying a stimulating current to a living body, wherein one electrode in one of the two pairs and one electrode in the other of the two pairs are provided between a front part and a rear part of the device body in a state where they are exposed from the seating surface of the device body, and the other electrodes in both pairs are attached to the front part of the device body via a cord for supplying the stimulating current; the seating surface of the device body is inclined from the bottom surface of the device body to the front portion of the device body toward the rear portion of the device body, one of the electrodes in each pair is protruded so as to form a step with respect to the seating surface of the device body, The seating surface of the device body is set to maintain an inclined state of the seating surface even when a user is seated. An electrical stimulation device characterized by:

2. In claim 1, an elastic body is interposed between one of the electrodes in each pair and the device body; An electrical stimulation device characterized by:

3. In claim 2, A pair of holding holes opening from the seating surface are formed in the device body, one electrode in each pair is held in each of the retaining holes in a state where the electrode protrudes from the seating surface, The elastic body has a lower elastic modulus than a member constituting the seating surface, the elastic body is interposed between one of the electrodes in each of the pairs and a bottom of each of the holding holes that holds the one of the electrodes; An electrical stimulation device characterized by:

4. In claim 1, A pedestal is provided to be placed on the floor, The device body is placed on an upper surface of the base, The height of the seating surface of the device body is set to a height that allows a user to sit on the seating surface with their feet in contact with the floor surface. An electrical stimulation device characterized by:

5. In claim 4, The inclination angle of the seating surface of the device body is adjustable. An electrical stimulation device characterized by:

Images