Electrical currents impact in human physiology: new methodologies

ISBN-13: 9783659786754 / Angielski / Miękka / 2015 / 172 str.

Araujo Tiago

Opis

The use and application of electrical currents, as a controlled interference mechanism in the human body system, is currently a strong source of motivation to researchers in areas such as clinical, sports, neuroscience, amongst others. In electrical stimulation (ES), the current applied to tissue is traditionally controlled concerning stimulation amplitude, frequency and pulse-width. The main drawbacks of the transcutaneous ES are the rapid fatigue induction and the high discomfort induced by the non-selective activation of nervous fibers. There are, however, electrophysiological parameters whose response, like the response to different stimulation waveforms, polarity or a personalized charge control, is still unknown. Current ES hardware lack flexibility on stimulation control and physiological response assessment. In this context, a miniaturized, portable and wireless controlled device with ES functions fully integrated with a biosignals acquisition platform has been created. The impact of the methodologies developed is successfully applied and evaluated in the contexts of fundamental electrophysiology, psycho-motor rehabilitation and neuromuscular disorders diagnosis.

O autorze

With a PhD in Biomedical Engineering Tiago is now a knowledge transfer officer at CERN.Previously, he worked at Plux-Wireless Biosignals, as a Hardware Engineer for 5 years, developing methods for human physiology assessment.From 2012 to 2014, Tiago was an invited Professor in FCT-UNL, lecturing an Applied Electronics course.