NEURO CARE™ 1000 /TENS/EMS COMPARED

There are many types of electrical muscle stimulators on the market and most of them basically the same. The TENS is separate from the EMS, since the indication for TENS is pain. Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) units are therapeutic, working to control what causes the pain. As a narcotic and an anti-inflammatory can both be used to relieve pain, so can the Neuro Care™ 1000 (a unique EMS) and the TENS. Just as the two medicines relieve the pain through different neuro so do the two modalities. Therefore, the indications for the EMS is:

1. Relaxation of muscle spasm
2. Prevention or retardation of disuse atrophy
3. Increasing local blood circulation
4. Muscle re- education
5. Immediate post-surgical stimulation of calf muscles to prevent venous thrombosis
6. Maintaining or increasing range of motion
These are the problems that cause most pain.

The various types of EMS units are

1. Direct current, low-voltage
2. Direct current, high-voltage
3. Alternating current, low-voltage
4. Alternating current, high-voltage
5. Interferential
6. H-wave
7. Micro current

The micro current is 0-.05 milliamps at 0-1 volts. The others have an electrical output of 0-90 milliamps, achieving 0125 volts. Important to remember, voltage is in direct proportion to the amperage. Because of this direct proportion, lowering the amperage, in these units, will lower the voltage. All EMS units other than the Neuro Care™ 1000 work with this electrical relationship. 90 milliamps to 125 volts (90: 125, 10 milliamps to 35 volts (10:35. The H-wave is 0-35 milliamps and 0-35 volts (at 35 volts there is 35 milliamps). Muscle will contract at + 35 volts, however, the higher the voltage, the more recruitment of muscle fiber. It is the amperage part of electricity that is painful.

Manufacturers trying to make these units tolerable to the patient keep lowering the amperage which also lowers the voltage. At 10 miliamps:35 volts, the patient will only receive minimal muscle contraction (invoking the "fast twitch" or surface muscle only).

Ninety (90) milliamps are very painful and is usually used with paraplegics or quadriplegics, since they generally have no sensitivity. Even though, these units are only used at that level for short periods of time, 5-15 minutes, since this much output can burn the skin. At 90 milliamps muscle contraction is received at 125 volts. Since 90 milliamps is so painful, most treatments, with this type of equipment, is at 10 milliamps and + 35 volts. Even 10 milliamps is painful to most patients, so the treatment length is usually less than 20 minutes.

The Neuro Care™ 1000 has an AC design which allows the amperage/voltage proportion to be manipulated independent of each other. The Neuro Care™ 1000 has an output of 0-1.8 milliamps, receiving 0-340 volts. At 1.8 milliamp, the Neuro Care™ has a muscle contraction of 340 volts, with no pain to the patient. Other stimulators on the market with 10 milliamps achieve a muscle contraction of only 35 volts. Since the Neuro Care™ 1000 is less painful, the patient can have a longer treatment. The length of electro-therapy treatment is very important to accomplishing results. The Neuro Care™ 1000 is portable so the patient is able to have treatments closer together, even two or three times a day, as prescribed. To conclude, the other machines are 5 times the pain and only 10% of the power.

The Neuro Care™ uses a biphasic pyramidal wave with a frequency of 47 Hz. Duty cycles are fixed at 1.5 seconds on and 1.8 seconds off. There is no ramp time. These settings are preset with the intensity being the only variable. Thus allowing an accurate treatment to be administered by the patient or caregiver in the patient's home. In medicine there is always a standard, but until the Neuro Care™ 1000 it has been impossible to standardize electro-therapy treatments. All other EMS units have variable settings, so there is no standardization of treatment between patients, even within the clinic setting. Neuro Care™ 's standardization has allowed practitioners to treat more accurately and consistently when using electro-therapy.

The Neuro Care™ has combined high voltage, ultra low amperage, built-in parameters for ease and simplicity of use to achieve its remarkable effectiveness. The Neuro Care™ 1000 is not unique due to its packaging, number of outputs, or portability. These are all very desirable features - but are NOT unique. What separates the Neuro Care™ 1000 as being unique is the aforementioned extreme specificity of its electrical output and its preset parameters. As 104.5 and 105.1 on the radio dial are unique and specifically different and very far apart practically, so is the Neuro Care™ 1000 from other modalities.

We hope this clarification has been helpful and will assist you in providing state-of-the-art treatment for the patients who have access to this remarkable, new, technology.

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