Chronic pain—often identified as pain persisting for 12 or more weeks—can result in prolonged or permanent changes in the peripheral and/or central nervous system. Pain-specific nerves and nerve pathways become oversensitized, causing a pain response in the absence of actual tissue damage. In this case, pain itself becomes the primary problem that interferes with patient function and well-being, more so than the initial cause of the pain.
The purpose of this study was to test the torquegenerating capacity of a portable battery powered NMES device (InTENSity Select Combo II) to determine the percentage of maximal volitional isometric contraction that can be achieved through the delivery of maximal tolerable electrically induced muscle contractions in the quadriceps muscle.
