Electrical Performance of Various Electrical Stimulators for Acupuncture Anesthesia

Six type of electrical stimulators for acupuncture anesthesia such as BT701,71-1,Acoma, Painlesser, Neurometer-NA and Tokki (The first two are made in China, others being made in Japan) were tested on the electrical performance when applied without load (A) or during acupuncture anesthesia on a human and a dog (B).(1) On the first four types, the width of the negative pulse was generally observed to be prolonged than A when one pair of electrodes being used for acupuncture anesthesia, though no definite changes were seen on the positive pulse between A and B. The positive output potential decreased to about 30-60% and the negative output potential also decreased to about 10-30% of A when B. When four pairs of electrodes being used, the width of the negative pulse became even longer, the positive output potential decreased to about 30-40% and the negative output potential decreased to about 2-20% of A when B. Their frequencies varied somewhat according to changes of applying conditions.(2) A Neurometer-NA stimulator which has 12 non-paired active electrodes and one indifferent electrode showed roughly similar changes between A and B. But, the positive as well as negative output potential of this stimulator became higher with 7 active electrodes than with one active electrode in use.(3) A Tokki stimulator with 6 non-paired electrodes and one indifferent one showed only negative square-wave formed output, while the former five showed biphasic pulses. The output potential decreased to 20-25% of A when B, though no changes were seen on the width of pulse and frequency between A and B.