Electrostimulation Device Feedback Control for Muscle Impedance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electro-stimulation devices for pelvic floor muscles face challenges in delivering consistent and effective stimulation due to varying muscle impedance across different women and within individuals over time, especially when users are mobile.
Innovation Solution
A self-contained electro-stimulation device with a feedback mechanism that automatically adjusts to compensate for differences in muscle impedance, ensuring consistent delivery of a target output current to the pelvic floor muscles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional electro-stimulation devices use fixed output voltage, then device complexity is reduced, but muscle impedance variations cause inconsistent stimulation effectiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The device measures the actual current delivered to the muscle and uses this feedback to automatically adjust the output voltage, ensuring consistent therapeutic current delivery despite impedance variations. This closed-loop control resolves the contradiction by maintaining reliability through real-time adaptation.
Solution Approach 2:
The device transitions from a static fixed-voltage output to a dynamic system that continuously adjusts voltage based on measured current and impedance conditions. This dynamic adaptation ensures consistent stimulation effectiveness across varying physiological conditions without requiring complex manual intervention.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the device automatically adjusts output voltage based on measured current, then stimulation consistency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device incorporates a feedback mechanism that measures the actual current delivered to the muscle and automatically adjusts the output voltage to maintain consistent current delivery. This feedback loop ensures stimulation consistency while automating the adjustment process to minimize user burden.
Solution Approach 2:
The device performs self-adjustment of output voltage based on its own measurements of delivered current and muscle impedance. This self-service capability maintains stable stimulation without requiring external intervention or complex user programming, balancing automation with practical usability.
3Measurement precision
If the device measures current through return path voltage, then measurement precision is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device uses return path voltage as an intermediary measurement that correlates with delivered current. By measuring voltage in the return path rather than directly measuring current, the device achieves sufficient measurement precision for control purposes while minimizing additional energy consumption through high-impedance voltage sensing.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device effectively accommodates wide variances in pelvic floor impedance, enabling consistent and effective electro-stimulation across a diverse population of women, including during mobile activities.
Implementation Method 1
The device delivers a target pulsed output current to muscle in contact with the device
Implementation Method 2
The device measures a return path voltage through the muscle and determines the accuracy of an output voltage delivered to the muscle from the device based on the measurement of the return path voltage
Data Source
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AI summary
There is disclosed a device and method for delivering constant target current to a muscle for electro-stimulation of that muscle. One device is a completely self-contained device with no external means for the adjustment and control of the electro-stimulation delivered to the muscle during treatment. The microprocessor based device monitors indirectly the actual current delivered to the muscle during electro-stimulation via measurement of the return path voltage through the muscle and optionally in addition monitors and adjusts for the internal battery voltage during use of the device in order to deliver a more consistent an accurate and effective target output current to the muscle being stimulated at each and every pulse delivered from the device. The device is pre-programmed with an electro-stimulation treatment cycle and the whole treatment cycle, including the monitoring and adjustment required to achieve this treatment cycle, is automatic within the device.