The Design And Implementation Of A Human Quantitative Current Perception Threshold Testing System

Abstract:Pain has been identified as the fifth vital sign after four vital signs of blood pressure, pulse, body temperature and respiratory. Pain is often associated with diseases, being affected by individuals’physiological and psychological status and the social background. Currently, as pain has a closely related with the health-related quality in people’s lives, the pain has become a public health problem.Considering the complexity and importance of pain, the objective assessment of the indicators of pain is very important for clinical diagnosis and treatment. According to the mechanism of pain, the generation of pain is a kind of human sensory which is closely related to the nerve conduction and the central nervous system,together with the temperature sensation, touch pressure sensation, etc. As the development psychophysics and signal detection theory, Quantitative Sensory Testing(QST) techniques have been proposed, and the QST techniques were firstly used clinically in the1970s. During the past20years,The QST techniques have got a number of attentions from the scholars in domestic and overseas during the past20years.There are also different types of Quantitative Sensory Testing medical instruments developed by combining with other clinical testing ways.Clinical studies have shown that giving a certain intensity electrical stimulation to the certain parts of the human skin can cause the excitement of nervous fibers.According to this,we can do the quantitative researches on the nervous system and pain perception.Based on the Current Perception Threshold testing technology which is a branch of the Quantitative Sensory Testing techniques, this article designs and implements a Current Threshold testing system which is good at the hospital information management.The system consists of lower machine hardware, PC software system and database. Based on the STC12C5410AD microcontroller, Lower machine hardware can produce different frequencies of Sinusoidal alternating current and give a stimulation by the stimulating electrode which is sticking to the skin.In addition, The personal safety will be protected by the design of emergency switch, alarm signal and the output protection module.The PC software system achieve the control of the hardware part, program of the CPT algorithm, complete the analysis of the test results. The database system design makes the information management of the patient, doctor and hospital come true. Through the design of the reasonable operational process and the beautification of the software interface, this PC system realized the man-machine friendly. Through the design of the database of patient records, this PC system realized the management function such as query and print recordsThe sample machine collected and analyzed the data from8healthy subjects for a period of7days in a CPT testing experiment. The results shows that the CPT testing algorithm used in this paper is feasible, and the prototype works in a stable condition.Its repeatability and sensitivity is good either, and the data has some practical value.