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TENS and Active Healing

A project log for CastMinder - The Cast and Splint Monitoring System

The CastMinder system can detect complications in orthopedic casts and splints while healing patients faster and with less pain.

alexAlex 10/09/2016 at 20:340 Comments

The Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) unit is an integral part of the CastMinder Active Healing system. Regular TENS units work by providing relatively high voltage (approx. 50v) pulses to the skin through electrodes. These pulses are generally in the 1-10hz range, or slow enough that a human can differentiate between the different pulses.

I'm currently working on getting the correct pulse width dialed in. This will involve lots of trial and error, as It'll just be a matter of seeing what lessens pain the most. The pulse width and timing is also somewhat subjective, as different people respond in different ways.

These pulses stimulate blood flow around the affected area, lessening patient pain. My Active Healing unit combines a TENS unit with a Bone Growth Stimulator, which I'll talk about in another log.

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