Transcranial electrotherapy stimulation device for temporary reduction of pain

The predominant method for pain management is medication. One very different approach to pain management is the application of micro- to milliamp current applied to specific areas of the head. While this may sound like a novel concept to most of us, years of research indicate that transcranial electrotherapy stimulation (TES) can work to noninvasively increase release of endogenous opioids from pain management regions of the brain. Traditionally, TES devices combined direct and alternating currents to be applied to electrodes placed on the subject´s head. We have developed the TESA, which is similar to a TES device except that it supplies only high frequency AC current. An early feasibility study demonstrates that this device may also be effective in treating pain without the side effects seen in TES devices. This paper provides a brief description of the TESA device and a report on the feasibility study that was conducted on the TESA prototype.