title: Design and development of a prototype electrotherapy device.
abstract: This article describes a complete prototype system that can be used in electrotherapy treatments, that is, in medical treatments involving electric currents. The system is composed of two main blocks: the master and the slave. The Master block, whose main component is a CPU, controls the user interface. The Slave block, which is composed of a microcontroller and a wave generator, produces the appropriated voltages and currents compatible with the desired treatment. The whole system is powered by a 12 V power supply and the output signal voltage ranges between -100 V and 100 V. Despite the prototype being able of performing all the electrotherapy treatments in the low-medium frequency ranges, it was tested in aesthetic mesotherapy, namely in anticellulite, located anticellulite, antistretch, and antiflaccidity. In these treatments, the output signal is composed of an overlap of two frequencies: the first one is selected in the range of 1.2 kHz - 1.8 kHz and the second in the range of 0.07 Hz - 2 Hz. The system was tested in a clinical environment with real patients. It showed good results both in effectiveness of treatments and in terms of pain suffered by the patients.
authors: Algoritmi Research Center, University of Minho, Campus de Azurem, 4800-058 Guimaraes, Portugal.
authors: J G
authors: JG
authors: Rocha
authors: V M G
authors: VM
authors: Correia
authors: M S
authors: MS
authors: Martins
authors: J M
authors: JM
authors: Cabral
keywords: Electrotherapy; Mesotherapy.