title: A comparison of the hypoalgesic effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and non-invasive interactive neurostimulation (InterX(®)) on experimentally induced blunt pressure pain using healthy human volunteers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Non-invasive interactive neurostimulation (InterX(®)) delivers high amplitude electrical pulsed currents at points of low impedance on the skin. This study compared the hypoalgesic effect of non-invasive interactive neurostimulation with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS).
  
  
  METHODS
  A repeated measures parallel group study on healthy human volunteers randomized to receive strong non-painful TENS or non-invasive interactive neurostimulation for 21 min on the forearm (N= 10/group). Pressure algometry was used to determine blunt pressure pain threshold at baseline, 10, and 20 min during stimulation, and 5 min post stimulation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Low impedance sites were found in half of the participants receiving non-invasive interactive neurostimulation. ANOVA found no effects for intervention (p= 0.923), time × intervention interaction (p= 0.21), or time (p= 0.094).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given the limited power of this study, we show that there were no significant differences in hypoalgesia between non-invasive interactive neurostimulation and TENS. Unlike our previous studies we also failed to detect a change pain threshold during TENS. Nevertheless, our findings can be used to inform the design of an appropriately powered study on pain patients.
authors.affiliation: Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, UK.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Biggs
authors.forename: Deirdre M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Mark I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000294:innervation; D006805:Human Experimentation; D006801:Humans; D006930:Hyperalgesia / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D011312:Pressure / Q000009:adverse effects; D013997:Time Factors; D004561:Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult