Electric Muscle Stimulator
Form and Function:
Different types of electrical muscle stimulation:
1. TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) type of electrical stimulation used to decrease acute and chronic pain by interrupting the pain signals from the injured tissue to your brain.
2. Russian Stimulation is a type of electrical stimulation that uses electricity to contract muscle tissue. After injury or surgery, you can be experiencing muscle weakness. Sometimes, muscles are inhibited after an injury and can’t generate a forceful contraction. Russian Stimulation is used to help improve the contraction of your muscles.
3. Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation is similar to Russian Stimulation. It is a form of muscle re-education which helps your body to return to full function after a surgery or injury.
4. Interferential Current decreases pain and improves circulation to injured tissues. Similar to TENS. Current is movable and can target the most injured tissue.
5. High Voltage Stimulation decreases pain, improves circulation. Helps wound healing.
6. Iontophoresis administers medication to your body through your skin, decreases inflammation, swelling and muscle spasm. Helps manage scar tissue.
Contracts your muscles through an electrical current passed through your muscles.
Cardboard, glue, pens
There are many different forms of electrical muscle stimulation, such as Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS), Russian Stimulation, Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation, Interferential Current, High Voltage Stimulation and Iontophoresis. Each form of artificial muscle stimulation is tailored to a specific need, for example, the most common form in Northern America is TENS. TENS specializes in decreasing acute and chronic pain. It interrupts pain signals from the injured tissue to your brain by making the muscles contract more than it would on its own. All of these machines use electrons and energy from a battery and sends them through a wire onto a self-adhesive pad. The pad sticks to which ever part of your body that it’s needed and at your chosen speed, it sends little shocks. These shocks perform many different tasks that are quite useful and help us quite a bit in our day to day lives, however they do have some consequences. Some of those consequences include muscle tears, which is caused by muscles contracting too much. This usually happens if the simulator is at a level too high. Tissue burns and skin irritations can also happen but that is extremely uncommon.
Social Implications:
The social implications are not very severe, because it doesn’t affect the climate and it doesn’t require a certain climate to operate, however it is not as available to poorer countries because of its cost. Three hundred American dollars can be better spent on food for a family even though an EMS machine could be very useful and reduce pain significantly. Also, for the most part, only physiotherapists operate EMS machines and in most countries, that profession isn’t attainable. In third world countries, it’s not always a priority to invest in medical supplies that isn’t necessary and doesn’t work visibly. Overall, the social implication isn’t big but the costs affects the accessibility of the machine.
https://www.verywell.com/estim-use-in-physical-therapy-2696490
http://www.livestrong.com/article/153338-muscle-stimulation-dangers

Ethical Implications:
During research, I found out that the Electric Muscle Stimulator has many uses to it, such as recovery, where it increases blood flow and helps remove lactic acids which make the muscles sore. It also aids in training where it will train your power, endurance, strength, size and much more, the EMS helps with rehabilitation where is builds and strengthens muscle. It works as a warm up before and exercise and can tone your muscles for a better appearance. The machine also has programs for specific parts that you need, it can range from three which is for the entry level people who are just starting, to all the up to seven difference programs ranging from a pre-warm up to explosive strength, which is the top-of-the-line machine. The one warning of it is that it cannot be used by someone who has a pacemaker or is pregnant.

Environmental Implications:
When looking up components to the EMS, I found that it requires batteries, LED lights, a 555 timer IC (a timer chip), multiple channels such as a Channel 1 and 2 On/Off and Amplitude Control, Output Receptacles and Output Indicator Lights. It also needs a Timer and Mode switch and a Pulse Width Control, as well as a Frequency Control. All of which, require many parts to create, which can be expensive if you attempt to mass manufacture the making of them, and they also require a decent amount of electricity to run, considering the fact that their main job is to send electrical currents throughout the body to contract the muscles.

Below is a photo of our model we created of the Electric Muscle Stimulator.

Reflection: In conclusion, I believe that both my partner and I divided the work equally, though I feel as if a bit more time could have been spent on the model, but I still do enjoy the outcome of what we made. I feel as if we have both answered the four questions with a good amount of detail to it, and I am pleased to see that there are not any info that is copied in two or more different questions. In general, I think that my partner and I have done a good job in this project.