Design of a Device for Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis with TENS, EMS and Iontophoresis through an Android Application on a Smartphone

Abstract

Abstract-In this paper presents the design and development of a portable prototype of a neuromuscular electrical stimulation and iontophoresis offering a rehabilitation therapy in patients with knee osteoarthritis, an disease that affects the largest adult population worldwide and interferes in quality of life for people who have it. The implemented therapy aims to act on pain fibers and produce analgesia and welfare; likewise stimulate the tissues involved in the mobility and biomechanics to the knee for preventing deterioration of the elements and articular atrophy, increasing tissues metabolism, in order to retard articular cartilage deterioration and thus disease. The hardware is based on an Android application that connects to the computer through the bluetooth communication; the application can store information related to the patient and configure and register therapies from Smartphone. The pacing system was coupled to a knee orthosis that allows placing electrodes for superficial treatment, this orthosis is suitable for both right and left limb. The prototype was designed under the technical standards related to the electrical safety of assets medical equipment and specifically the standard for design and construction of nerve and muscle electrostimulation equipment (NTC 60601-2-10).

Knee and Hip Osteoarthritis Management: A Review of Current and Emerging Non-Pharmacological Approaches

“…Similarly, Bossen and team [85] are preparing an BE-Exercise^intervention comprised of visits with a physical therapist and an interactive website to improve exercise engagement in persons with lower extremity OA. Other innovative approaches under investigation include use of smartphone technology, such as an intervention prototype proposed by Ortiz et al [86] that supplies customized TENS, electrical muscle stimulation, and iontophoresis therapy, activated by a smartphone application, and delivered through a Bluetoothenabled knee orthosis. Although promising, substantially more evidence is required before the use of technology-based interventions for treatment of OA is empirically justified.…”

A Cost-Effective IoT-based Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS): Proof-of-Concept Design and Evaluation

“…The proposed system has an additive value of incorporating the IoT feature that can automatically save vital information regarding system usage compared with the previously developed TENS systems [19][20][21]. Although the IoT-based TENS system incorporated a single stimulation channel and biphasic stimulation patterns were presented, this can be expanded to two or more channels, and monophasic or biphasic stimulation can be generated, as in [18,19].…”

“…Their proposed system was developed from commercial, low-cost electronic hardware and could deliver up to 100 V of monophasic pulses with an adjustable pulse duration. Additionally, Ortiz et al [21] designed a knee orthosis with an embedded Bluetooth-connected TENS system controlled by a mobile application with customizable electrical muscle stimulation parameters suitable for osteoarthritis treatment.…”