Wearable Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation on Quadriceps Muscle Can Increase Venous FlowShow others and affiliations
2023 (English)In: Annals of Biomedical Engineering, ISSN 0090-6964, E-ISSN 1573-9686, Vol. 51, no 12, p. 2873-2882Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) of the quadriceps (Q) may increase venous blood flow to reduce the risk of venous thromboembolism. This study assessed whether Q-NMES pants could increase peak venous velocity (PVV) in the femoral vein using Doppler ultrasound and minimize discomfort. On 15 healthy subjects, Q-NMES using textile electrodes integrated in pants was applied with increasing intensity (mA) until the first visible muscle contraction [measurement level (ML)-I] and with an additional increase of six NMES levels (ML II). Discomfort using a numeric rating scale (NRS, 0–10) and PVV were used to assess different NMES parameters: frequency (1, 36, 66 Hz), ramp-up/-down time (RUD) (0, 1 s), plateau time (1.5, 4, and 6 s), and on:off duty cycle (1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4). Q-NMES pants significantly increased PVV from baseline with 93% at ML I and 173% at ML II. Frequencies 36 Hz and 66 Hz and no RUD resulted in significantly higher PVV at both MLs compared to 1 Hz and 1 s RUD, respectively. Plateau time, and duty cycle did not significantly change PVV. Discomfort was only significantly higher with increasing intensity and frequency. Q-NMES pants produces intensity-dependent 2−3-fold increases of venous blood flow with minimal discomfort. The superior NMES parameters were a frequency of 36 Hz, 0 s RUD, and intensity at ML II. Textile-based NMES wearables are promising for non-episodic venous thromboembolism prevention.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2023. Vol. 51, no 12, p. 2873-2882
Keywords [en]
Electrical stimulation therapy, Muscle stimulation, Skeletal muscles, Thromboprophylaxis, Deep vein thrombosis, Venous thromboembolism, Peak venous velocity, Textile electrodes, Smart textiles
National Category
Materials Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-31335DOI: 10.1007/s10439-023-03349-0ISI: 001050737400001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85168343519OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hb-31335DiVA, id: diva2:1828360
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2017-00202Stockholm County Council, SLL20180348Karolinska Institute2024-01-162024-01-162024-02-01Bibliographically approved