Output of Electronic Muscle Stimulators: Physical Therapy and Police Models Compared

Introduction: Both physical therapists and police officers use electrical muscle stimulation. The typical physical therapist unit is attached with adhesive patches while the police models use needle-based electrodes to penetrate clothing. There have been very few papers describing the outputs of these physical therapy EMS (electrical muscle stimulator) units.Methods: We purchased 6 TENS/EMS units at retail and tested them with loads of 500 Ω, 2 kΩ, and 10 kΩ. Results: For the typical impedance of 500 Ω, the EMS units delivered the most current followed by the electrical weapons; TENS units delivered the least current. At higher im-pedances (> 2 kΩ) the electrical weapons delivered more current than the EMS units, which is explained by the higher voltage-compliance of their circuits. Some multi channel EMS units deliver more calculated muscle stimula tion than the multi-channel weapons.Conclusion: Present therapeutic electrical muscle stimula-tors can deliver more current than present law-enforcement muscle stimulators.