Pulsed Electric Tissue Stimulation Circuit for Shorter Pain Treatment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current pain treatment technologies require numerous sessions over extended periods, lack precise treatment time display, and offer sub-optimal outcomes due to varied treatment parameters, leading to transient pain relief and low patient compliance.
Innovation Solution
A patient treatment unit delivering pulsed electrical energy with specific frequency, pressure, and probe movement protocols, including timers for precise treatment duration and optimal probe placement, to achieve enduring pain relief and healing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional pain treatment technology is used, then pain relief can be achieved, but it requires numerous sessions over extended periods (15-20 treatments over 3-5 weeks)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by delivering electrical energy at specific frequencies (e.g., 1-10 kHz for pain relief, 20-100 kHz for wound healing) and controlling pulse duration (e.g., 1-10 milliseconds per pulse). These precise parameter adjustments enable effective treatment in significantly fewer sessions compared to conventional approaches, resolving the contradiction between reliable pain relief and treatment duration.
2Adaptability or versatility
If treatment parameters are varied to address different conditions, then treatment adaptability improves, but it creates endless permutations leading to sub-optimal outcomes
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs parameter changes with predefined protocols for different conditions (pain relief, wound healing, inflammation reduction), each with optimized frequency and pulse duration ranges. This approach maintains adaptability while ensuring precision by avoiding random parameter variation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates feedback mechanisms including patient response monitoring and physiological parameter measurement (e.g., impedance changes, temperature variations). This feedback allows real-time adjustment of treatment parameters to optimize outcomes while maintaining precision through data-driven decision-making rather than trial-and-error approaches.
3Adaptability or versatility
If treatment current frequency and probe placement options are expanded, then treatment versatility increases, but it leads to sub-optimal choices and transient pain relief
Solution Approach 1:
The patent defines specific frequency ranges (1-10 kHz for pain relief, 20-100 kHz for wound healing) and pulse duration parameters (1-10 milliseconds) that have been optimized for different treatment outcomes. This structured parameter approach ensures reliability by preventing sub-optimal parameter selection while maintaining versatility through condition-specific protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates automated probe placement guidance and treatment parameter selection based on the treated condition, reducing reliance on provider expertise while ensuring optimal treatment delivery. This self-service capability maintains treatment effectiveness even when provider experience varies.
4Reliability
If treatment duration is extended to achieve durable outcomes, then pain relief effectiveness improves, but patient compliance decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves durable pain relief with fewer, shorter treatment sessions by using optimized electrical parameters (frequency: 1-10 kHz, pulse duration: 1-10 milliseconds). This reduces the total treatment burden on patients while maintaining or improving outcome durability, directly addressing the compliance problem.
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
Significantly reduces pain and inflammation in a few minutes, enhances wound healing, and promotes long-term pain relief by addressing the underlying condition, with reduced treatment times and improved patient compliance.
Implementation Method 1
applying firm pressure to at least the first conductor while the tip contacts the living tissue, causing electrical energy to be delivered through the first and second conductors and into the tissue
Data Source
AI summary
A patient treatment unit for delivering non-invasive pulsed energy to living tissue with a probe stimulus generator circuit configured to output, as a treatment signal, a sequence of DC electrical pulses at a controlled pulse frequency of about 20 kHz and having a pulse voltage defined by a variable supply voltage of the probe stimulus generator circuit. The unit includes primary and secondary probes for contacting a body, an intensity adjustment circuit configured to control the variable supply voltage, and an electronic timer display configured to display an elapsed time in decimal numbers in minute and second format. An electrical current of the pulses is in a range of 0.1-2 mA while the probes are contacting the body. An operating output voltage across the probes while conducting the treatment signal does not exceed a maximum operating output voltage of 165 VDC while the probes are contacting the body.