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Technical Note
ABSTRACT
The device described was developed as an external electrical stimulator to assist in the accurate location of motor
end-points prior to the injection of nerve blocking agents in the treatment of spasticity. Monophasic pulses are
produced with a duration of 10100 s and a current from 0 to 10 mA. The current is maintained over a wide
range of electrode impedance and is independent of battery voltage. 1997 IPEM Published by Elsevier Science Ltd
Keywords: Stimulator, motor end-point, constant current
Med. Eng. Phys., 1997, Vol. 19, 755758, December
1. INTRODUCTION
The device described was developed as an external electrical stimulator to assist in the accurate
location of muscle motor end-points prior to the
injection of nerve blocking agents in the treatment of spasticity1. However, it can act equally
well in any application where a low power external
stimulator with adjustable current and pulse width
is required and is also suitable for use with
needle electrodes.
The stimulator is a compact, hand-held device
with internal battery power. The circuitry has
been optimised for a long battery life with warning of a battery low condition. The user can
adjust the current with a slider control over the
range 010 mA and the pulse width from 10 to
100 s. These controls allow for fine reduction in
pulse energy as the motor end-point is
approached. The current and pulse width range
was based on the experience of J. Keenan using
a mains-powered EMG stimulator2. The physical
layout is such that the parameters can be varied
with the device held in one hand, while the stimulating electrode is manipulated with the other. The
pulse repetition rate is fixed at approx. 1 pulse/s.
Visual indication of a pulse is given with a light
emitting diode (LED).
The indifferent electrode is a commercially
Correspondence to: M. P. Bolton.
A battery-powered constant current stimulator for motor end-point detection: M. P. Bolton and J. R. Kulkarni
756
VR2, this is derived from a low current, low dropout regulator providing a fixed 5 V independent
of the battery voltage. The resistor R9 is selected
to give a maximum current of 10 mA. The current
range could be increased if required by reducing
the value of this resistor. In the unlikely failure of
Q2 resulting in a collectoremitter short, current
control would be lost and painful stimuli could be
administered. The excessive current would flow
through R11 and the subsequent voltage rise
would trigger the SCR (D7), so shorting out the
high voltage instantly. The threshold for the SCR
is set by VR3.
The integrated circuit U2 senses the battery
voltage with the threshold set by R5 and R7. When
the voltage falls below the preset threshold level,
the output on pin 5 goes low for 200 ms. In this
circuit, the voltage sensed is not that of the battery
directly, but the value across the capacitor C5. The
voltage drops slightly with each stimulator pulse
so the first indication of a low battery state is a
200 ms flash with each pulse. Only when the
maximum value (rather than the minimum value)
across C5 drops below the threshold does the light
remain on permanently. This gives a useful early
indication of battery state while the stimulator
remains within specification. The threshold is set
at approx. 6 V, whereas regulator U3 does not
drop out till 5.2 V.
The whole circuit is enclosed in a plastic case
and it was not felt necessary to create a fully
floating output, as would be the situation with
mains-powered stimulators (see Figure 2 and
Table 1).
3. PERFORMANCE
Figure 3 shows the linear relationship between voltage and resistance at a current of 10 mA. Linearity
is maintained to within 0.5% up to the com-
A battery-powered constant current stimulator for motor end-point detection: M. P. Bolton and J. R. Kulkarni
Figure 2
Circuit diagram.
757
A battery-powered constant current stimulator for motor end-point detection: M. P. Bolton and J. R. Kulkarni
Table 1 Components list
Resistors
Capacitors
R1 1M2
R2 120K
R3 820R
R4 10K
R5 1M2
R6 1K
R7 330K
R8 10K
R9 2K2*
R10 2K2
R11 390R
R12 4K7
R13 270K*
R14 10M
R15 2K2
R16 4K7
Diodes
D1
D2
D3
D4
D5
D6
D7
1N4148
UF4006
UF4006
1N4148
1N4148
UF4006
P0201NA SCR
Figure 4
100 s pulse.
Figure 5
10 s pulse.
Transistors
Q1 BUZ10 Power MOSFET
Q2 BUX87 450v NPN
LEDs
Transformer
T1 RM10250 core 60:1 ratio
Primary 32 turns 0.5 mm dia.
Secondary 1920 turns 0.1 mm
dia.
LED1 Yellow
LED2 Red
*Resistors R9 and R13 are selected to set the maximum current and
pulse width, respectively.
758
1. Skeil, D. A. and Barnes, M. P., The local treatment of spasticity. Clinical Rehabilitation, 1994, 8, 240246.
2. Copp, E. P., Harris, R. and Keenan, J., Peripheral nerve
block and motor point block with phenol in the management of spasticity. Proc. Roy. Soc. Med., 1970, 63, 937938.