A Portable Multichannel Kilohertz Current Stimulator for Selective Peripheral Transcutaneous Stimulation
We present SineStim, a portable, 12-channel current stimulator for transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation and peripheral electrical stimulation at kilohertz frequencies. Each channel delivers independent, current-controlled sinusoidal waveforms with amplitudes from 0 to 50 mA (0.1 mA resolution) and frequencies from 0 to 50 kHz (0.1 Hz resolution), with burst modulation modes supported. A custom output stage with a high compliance voltage of $\pm$ 120 V was designed and developed, with galvanically isolated channels and independently programmable stimulation parameters for each channel. The stimulator performance was tested on both passive loads and human subjects. Benchtop characterisation on resistive and resistive-capacitive loads demonstrated a total harmonic distortion between 1 - 8 % across typical operating conditions. Multichannel functionality was demonstrated in two-channel human forearm stimulation experiments. Burst-modulated waveforms with differing channel amplitudes modulated inter-finger force ratios, and channels with small frequency offsets elicited temporal interference force patterns at the beat frequency. Smoothly enveloped bursts of kilohertz sinusoidal waveforms produced negligible stimulation artifacts at steady state in concurrent surface electromyography (sEMG) recordings at motor threshold, in contrast to conventional biphasic square wave stimulation. SineStim delivers precise, isolated, multichannel kilohertz stimulation through a portable device, with performance demonstrated on both benchtop loads and human participants. By combining multichannel spatial control with minimal-artifact sEMG compatibility, SineStim enables future precision non-invasive neural stimulation paradigms based on multichannel optimisation and real-time closed-loop control capabilities not available via existing single-channel stimulators.