Optimizing the stimulus current in a surface based stimulation device

摘要

A method and associated stimulation device for ensuring firing of an action potential in an intended physiological target activated by a stimulus pulse generated by an electrode of a non-invasive surface based stimulation device irrespective of skin-to-electrode impedance by: (i) increasing internal impedance of the stimulation device so as to widen a Chronaxie time period thereby ensuring firing of the action potential of the intended physiological target irrespective of the skin-to-electrode impedance; and/or (ii) generating a stimulation waveform that optimizes a non-zero average current (e.g., non-zero slope of the envelope of the stimulation waveform) during preferably substantially the entire current decay of the stimulus pulse.

主权项

1. A method for ensuring firing of an action potential in an intended physiological target activated by a stimulus pulse generated by an electrode of a non-invasive surface based stimulation device irrespective of skin-to-electrode impedance, comprising the steps of:
sensing the skin-to-electrode impedance; deriving from the sensed skin-to-electrode impedance a current decay; detecting a strength-duration curve of the intended physiological target and a Chronaxie in the strength-duration curve of the intended physiological target; detecting based on the Chronaxie in the strength-duration curve of the intended physiological target when the derived current decay is insufficient to fire the action potential in the intended physiological target; increasing internal impedance of the stimulation device; and generating the stimulus pulse using the electrode; wherein the increased internal impedance widens a duration of the stimulus pulse so as to ensure firing of the action potential of the intended physiological target irrespective of the sense skin-to-electrode impedance.