Development of a Non-Invasive Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation Device for Pain-Free and Safe Maternal Labor Delivery Management

Abstract

Maternal labor pain happens to be one of the strongest physiological experiences and conventional pharmacological interventions such as epidural anesthesia tend to be restrictive such as delayed onset, restricted movement, high cost and maternal fetus side effects. To overcome these issues, this paper gives the design of a non-invasive Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) equipment that has been developed to manage painful labor delivery safely and painlessly. The proposed system incorporates pulse modulation based on the ESP32 microcontroller, electrode pads that meet the requirements of medical-grade and a safe, low-frequency neuromodulation system to stimulate peripheral nerve pathways and decrease the perception of uterine contraction pain. A combination of flex sensors, accelerators, and force-sensing elements allow to provide real-time monitoring of mother movement and contraction intensity, whereas wireless communication through the Blynk IoT helps to monitor mother remotely by medical professionals. Safety features built-in in a custom-designed TENS pulse generator circuit include overcurrent protection and patient isolation to provide a regulated amplitude and duty cycle. The prototyping is done through the Proteus simulation, hardware implementation and embedded C programming in Arduino environment. The experimental analysis shows successful treatment of pain, the regularity of the stimulus presentation, and the increase of the patient comfort with no side effects. This research creates a dependable, portable, and affordable biomedical application that may be combined with clinical labor management and enhance the birth process by creating non-pharmacological pain relief.