Modeling Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation

Transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TES) is a technique to artificially activate motor nerves and muscles by applying electrical current pulses to pairs of electrodes placed on the skin surface. TES can be used for sports, fitness, rehabilitation, and restoration of lost motor functions, e.g. in subjects with brain or spinal cord lesions. In this thesis a versatile TES simulation framework (TES model) that calculates nerve activation using a finite element model combined with non-linear nerve models was developed. The aim of this model was to investigate new TES technologies and to better understand specific effects in TES. Nerve activation in the TES model was calculated either in nerve bundles or by using activation volumes which describe whole regions where nerves are activated. Computer graphics methods were applied to the activation volumes in order to introduce measures to estimate the activation depth and the selectivity.