TENSmini: A Wearable Electrical Nerve Stimulator for Urinary Incontinence Management

Recently, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for tibial nerve has been considered as an effective and safe treatment for urinary incontinence (UI). We propose a novel TENS device named TENSmini, which is compact, comfortable, portable and wearable, with the dimension of 38 × 38 × 16.2 mm (W × L × H) and weight (including a battery) of 30 g. The proposed device could generate the amplitude of current pulses up to 45 mA, and its frequency and pulse width (PW) could be adjusted varying from 2 – 100 Hz and 50 – 250 μs, respectively. The stimulation pulses of TENSmini have also been evaluated be likely identical compared with a clinically approved TENS device. Additionally, some technical specifications are chosen to compare the TENSmini with other conformity-assessed (with CE marks) commercially available inventions. With the widest area covered in the radar chart, and a full integration of conductive textile electrodes within wearables, such as a sock, TENSmini may help UI patients find an alternative option by receiving prescribed home-based treatments, which could assist them in overcoming the social ostracism and improving their quality of life (QoL).