Design and Construction of Thermally Combined Microcurrent Electrical Therapy Device as Preliminary Study for Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease that destructs the cartilage within joints. Even though RA cannot be cured, its progress can be slowed and its symptoms can be managed by applying microcurrent and thermal therapy to enhance the healing process of the joints. This research aims to combine two different therapeutic modalities: Microcurrent Electrical Therapy (MET) and thermal therapy, which will be called as Thermally combined Microcurrent Electrical Therapy (T-MET) device. For MET, the resulted output was square wave with fix 50% duty cycle, adjustable frequency (0.31 – 100Hz), and adjustable current amplitude (36 466μA). For thermal therapy, two different modes were provided: heating mode (up to 40°C) and cooling mode (up to 15°C). The test was done three times. It took 30 minutes and 105.8 minutes to reach the upper and lower limit temperature respectively. T-MET device had been designed and constructed. However, clinical trials to RA patient needs to be further investigated. Design and Construction of Thermally Combined Microcurrent Electrical Therapy Device as Preliminary Study for Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment