VibraTip® durability in clinical practice: How long does it last?

Andrew Levy, Ian Horsfield

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
370 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

VibraTip® is a battery-powered, disposable, key fob-sized source of vibration used to assess the integrity of vibration perception. To find out how long the device lasts, the stability of its vibration output was measured in response to two usage patterns:-
In the first, VibraTip® was subject to 7000 half second activations separated by 2 second rests. This yielded fairly consistent frequency output for the first 6000 activations but an early reduction in amplitude over the first 1000 activations, steadying between 2000 and 6000 activations.
In the second, designed to mimic more closely real life clinical usage, runs of ten, half second activations at 2 second intervals were interspersed by 10 minute rests. The cycle was repeated 350 times in all with additional overnight rests to allow electrochemical recovery. VibraTip® performance under these conditions was highly consistent over at least the first 1500 activations, with very little change in vibration frequency even after 3500 discharges.
These results indicate that usage patterns markedly affect VibraTip® durability. Rests between ‘patients’ and overnight, characteristic of normal clinical activity, suggests that VibraTip® is likely to provide very consistent performance in the clinical arena for many months of routine use.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)91-95
JournalBritish Journal of Diabetes and Vascular Disease
Volume13
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2013

Keywords

  • Vibration
  • tuning fork
  • neuropathy
  • battery life
  • consistency
  • frequency
  • amplitude

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