Presentation description

Electrical nerve stimulation holds significant promise for upper-limb prosthetics and physical rehabilitation by supporting sensory recovery and delivering adaptive feed-back in real-time rehabilitative processes. However, practical clinical implementation remains limited. This work explores a low-cost, thin-profile approach to sensory prosthesis design using wearable electrocutaneous stimulation. While Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) has been examined as a pathway to haptic feedback, conventional devices are bulky, benchtop systems that are impractical for everyday use and ill-suited for integration into wearable or prosthetic technologies.
This study investigates the feasibility of a miniaturized, wrist-worn system capable of delivering dynamic, high-voltage, constant-current stimulation for electrocutaneous applications. To address the core challenges of size, safety, and stimulation control, we modeled the skin-electrode interface as a parallel resistor-capacitor (RC) network to characterize impedance behavior and guide circuit and control design.
This model informed a strategy for producing constant-current stimulation using high-voltage pulses. Simulations using SPICE environments were conducted to examine pulse behavior and current stability across varying impedance loads.
A preliminary proof-of-concept circuit was designed within a 40 mm × 40 mm footprint using high-voltage discrete components. The goal was not to create a finalized device but to explore whether key functional principles-safe, targeted stimulation in a miniaturized form-could be implemented at the wearable scale.
This work highlights the potential for portable targeted electrical nerve stimulation systems that operate beyond the clinic, enabling adaptive feedback in real-time rehabilitation or prosthetic use.

Keywords: wearable nerve stimulation, electrocutaneous, TENS, haptic feedback, prosthetics, skin-electrode interface, constant current, rehabilitation technology