Development of a mobile application for personalized auricular vagus nerve stimulation

Abstract

In recent years a new therapeutic method has gained attention: the electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve. As it gains more and more reputation as effective treatment, for instance, in neurological or mental disorders, the supporting technology behind this therapy, also must steadily improve. One method of performing vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is the stimulation of the auricular vagus nerve with a wearable stimulation device. In this work, the process of monitoring and controlling the therapy, done with such wearable microelectronic device, will be advanced. To achieve this objective, an everyday object was introduced into the therapeutic cycle, the smartphone. As target-operating system for the application, the AndroidTM Platform has been chosen. With the usage of up-to-date development tools like android studio, MPLAB X, source tree and some test equipment like an oscilloscope the development was done. The connection between the device and the smartphone was established through near field communication (NFC) using the protocol standardized by ISO/IEC 15693. Also the C-code of the stimulator was altered to allow the NFC connection. The built application aims to help the medical professionals to personalize the therapy for each patient, by providing four adjustable parameters: amplitude, frequency, pulse count per burst and pulse width. Furthermore the user of the application is given a tool to monitor the battery and the impedance of the electrodes, which is gives information about the quality of the connection of the electrodes. This research has brought forth an application which satisfies the basic need for more information during VNS treatment. However since mobile phone applications are part of a high changing environment not only will the application need maintenance to sustain its quality and appearances, but also has still room for improvements by means of better calculations, faster connection, or smoother user interface to be validated in future usability tests. Also a user system which allows patient to use this application with a limited access (read only), could be implemented in the future.