Wearable High Voltage Compliant Current Stimulator for Restoring Sensory Feedback

Collu, Riccardo; Paolini, Roberto; Bilotta, Martina; Demofonti, Andrea; Cordella, Francesca; Zollo, Loredana; Barbaro, Massimo

doi:10.3390/mi14040782

Open AccessArticle

Wearable High Voltage Compliant Current Stimulator for Restoring Sensory Feedback

by

Riccardo Collu

¹

,

Roberto Paolini

²,

Martina Bilotta

²,

Andrea Demofonti

²

,

Francesca Cordella

²,

Loredana Zollo

² and

Massimo Barbaro

^1,*

¹

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of Cagliari, Piazza D’Armi, 09123 Cagliari, Italy

²

Research Unit of Advanced Robotics and Human-Centred Technologies (CREO Lab), Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, 00128 Rome, Italy

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Micromachines 2023, 14(4), 782; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14040782

Submission received: 13 February 2023 / Revised: 28 March 2023 / Accepted: 29 March 2023 / Published: 30 March 2023

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microsensors and Microsystems for the Human Body)

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Abstract

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) is a promising technique for eliciting referred tactile sensations in patients with limb amputation. Although several studies show the validity of this technique, its application in daily life and away from laboratories is limited by the need for more portable instrumentation that guarantees the necessary voltage and current requirements for proper sensory stimulation. This study proposes a low-cost, wearable high-voltage compliant current stimulator with four independent channels based on Components-Off-The-Shelf (COTS). This microcontroller-based system implements a voltage-current converter controllable through a digital-to-analog converter that delivers up to 25 mA to load up to 3.6 kΩ. The high-voltage compliance enables the system to adapt to variations in electrode-skin impedance, allowing it to stimulate loads over 10 kΩ with currents of 5 mA. The system was realized on a four-layer PCB (115.9 mm × 61 mm, 52 g). The functionality of the device was tested on resistive loads and on an equivalent skin-like RC circuit. Moreover, the possibility of implementing an amplitude modulation was demonstrated.

Keywords: neurostimulator; sensory feedback; wearable electronic system; TENS

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MDPI and ACS Style

Collu, R.; Paolini, R.; Bilotta, M.; Demofonti, A.; Cordella, F.; Zollo, L.; Barbaro, M. Wearable High Voltage Compliant Current Stimulator for Restoring Sensory Feedback. Micromachines 2023, 14, 782. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14040782

AMA Style

Collu R, Paolini R, Bilotta M, Demofonti A, Cordella F, Zollo L, Barbaro M. Wearable High Voltage Compliant Current Stimulator for Restoring Sensory Feedback. Micromachines. 2023; 14(4):782. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14040782

Chicago/Turabian Style

Collu, Riccardo, Roberto Paolini, Martina Bilotta, Andrea Demofonti, Francesca Cordella, Loredana Zollo, and Massimo Barbaro. 2023. "Wearable High Voltage Compliant Current Stimulator for Restoring Sensory Feedback" Micromachines 14, no. 4: 782. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14040782

APA Style

Collu, R., Paolini, R., Bilotta, M., Demofonti, A., Cordella, F., Zollo, L., & Barbaro, M. (2023). Wearable High Voltage Compliant Current Stimulator for Restoring Sensory Feedback. Micromachines, 14(4), 782. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14040782

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Wearable High Voltage Compliant Current Stimulator for Restoring Sensory Feedback

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