Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 88, Issue 8 , Pages 1036-1041 , August 2007

Lowering of Sensory, Motor, and Pain-Tolerance Thresholds With Burst Duration Using Kilohertz-Frequency Alternating Current Electric Stimulation

  • Alex R. Ward, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Human Physiology and Anatomy, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests to Alex R. Ward, PhD, Dept of Human Physiology and Anatomy, Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University, Victoria, 3086, Australia
    • ,
  • Stacey Lucas-Toumbourou, MPH

      Affiliations

    • School of Physiotherapy, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.

  • Image Result

    Stimulus types commonly used in rehabilitation. (A) Biphasic pulsed current, that is, single cycles of AC. (B) Bursts of AC with a burst duration of ‘x’ milliseconds. The examples shown have a period

    Stimulus types commonly used in rehabilitation. (A) Biphasic pulsed current, that is, single cycles of AC. (B) Bursts of AC with a burst duration of ‘x’ milliseconds. The examples shown have a period of 20ms (1/50s) so the pulse/burst frequency is 50Hz. The duty cycle is the fraction of the period for which current is delivered (expressed as a percentage) so in (B) the duty cycle is (x/20)x100.

  • Image Result
    The variation in (A) sensory, (B) motor, and (C) pain threshold with AC burst duration using 1kHz (⊡) and 4kHz () AC stimulation. Values are group averages. Error bars show the standard deviations (SD

    The variation in (A) sensory, (B) motor, and (C) pain threshold with AC burst duration using 1kHz (⊡) and 4kHz () AC stimulation. Values are group averages. Error bars show the standard deviations (SDs).

  • Image Result
    Relative thresholds at 1kHz (⊡) and 4kHz (). (A) Pain/sensory and (B) pain/motor threshold. Values were calculated by dividing individual participant’s thresholds then calculating the group average. E

    Relative thresholds at 1kHz (⊡) and 4kHz (). (A) Pain/sensory and (B) pain/motor threshold. Values were calculated by dividing individual participant’s thresholds then calculating the group average. Error bars show the SDs.

 Supported by the Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University.

 No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.

PII: S0003-9993(07)00297-3

doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2007.04.009

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 88, Issue 8 , Pages 1036-1041 , August 2007

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