Design and construction of Thermally Combined Microcurrent Electrical Therapy device for Rheumatoid Arthritis treatment

Abstract

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease that destructs the cartilage within joints. Even though RA cannot be cured, its progress can be slowed and its symptoms can be managed by applying microcurrent and thermal therapy to enhance the healing response of the joints. The aim of this research is to combine two different therapeutic modalities: Microcurrent Electrical Therapy (MET) and thermal therapy, called as Thermally Combined Microcurrent Electrical Therapy (T-MET) device. For MET, the resulted output was square wave with fix 50% duty cycle, adjustable frequency (0.31 – 100Hz), and adjustable current amplitude (36 – 466µA). For thermal therapy, two different modes were provided: heating mode (up to 40°C) and cooling mode (up to 15°C). The test was done three times. It took 30 minutes and 105.8 minutes to reach the upper and lower limit temperature respectively. T-MET device had been designed and constructed. However, the direct healing effect to the RA patient needs to be further investigated.