Transcutaneous electrical stimulation applications involving high numbers of stimulated muscles have been an area of growing interest in recent years. customKYnetics has been approached in recent months by research groups and stimulation application developers requesting high channel count stimulation devices for use in their spinal cord injury rehabilitation research studies and products. Existing devices do not offer the features and/or number of stimulation channels required for these applications. Such high channel count devices are often cost prohibitive due to the size and complexity of the stimulator and the limited market for any particular configuration. Devices that are available lack the technological capability to coordinate the activity of the electrode pairs in an application-specific manner. Such applications have also lacked clinical acceptance because managing the large number of wires has been burdensome and impractical. We propose the novel Active Distributed Electrode Array (ADEA) technology that solves these problems by allowing the outputs of the applicants 2-channel stimulation unit to be shared thereby forming a stimulator with an essentially unlimited number of virtual stimulation channels. Virtual channels can be added or removed simply by connecting additional low cost, modular 'stimulation nodes'. Nodes will be connected to one another in a daisy-chain fashion to minimize burdensome wiring. The CK200 will provide the stimulation control capability to deploy the electrical stimulation modality in any application, no matter the complexity. This technology will enable, improve efficacy of, reduce cost, and improve availability of high channel count stimulation applications for exercise and rehabilitation. The goals of this Phase I SBIR project will be to demonstrate feasibility of ADEA technology through development and bench testing of concept validation versions of ADEA circuits. In Phase II we will develop clinically viable stimulation nodes, application firmware for the stimulation unit, and user interface designs. We will demonstrate efficacy of the technology in one or more high channel count electrical stimulation based exercise and/or rehabilitation applications for individuals with spinal cord injury. We will additionally consider development of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) to implement the stimulation node in a small and lightweight package that can be easily donned at the electrode site using either a elastic band or adhesively to the stimulating electrode itself. The target markets for this device would be clinics who serve patients undergoing rehabilitation following spinal cord injury or stroke and electrical stimulation application developers who serve these populations. The target price for the system will be $3000 for an 8-channel configuration.
The proposed work may benefit public health through development of a clinically viable electrical stimulation technology for use in myriad rehabilitation applications. Compared to existing devices and techniques, the technology may improve efficacy, availability, ease of use, and reduce cost of the therapeutic interventions requiring high numbers of muscles to be activated using electrical stimulation in a well controlled / coordinated fashion.
