journal article·2026-04

MenstruEase : A Closed‐Loop Smart TENS System for Personalized Management of Primary Dysmenorrhea

Sixun Chen, Sukhera Ahmad Yar, Sabrina Han, Peiran Wang, Wenqing Xiong, Xingyi Yang, Boyuan Gao, Farah Deeba, Xingyi Ma

Advanced Sustainable Systems· Volume 10· Issue 4
Publisher page

Abstract

ABSTRACT Primary dysmenorrhea (PD) causes recurrent pelvic pain in women of reproductive age. Current treatments rely heavily on pharmacological agents or open‐loop TENS devices that provide “one‐size‐fits‐all” therapy and are prone to analgesic tolerance. Here, we present MenstruEase, a wearable closed‐loop TENS system integrating multimodal biosensing and intelligent control for personalized menstrual pain management. MenstruEase continuously monitors uterine surface electromyography (sEMG) and electrodermal activity (EDA) to detect signatures of uterine contraction and pain‐related autonomic activation. This enables responsive stimulation rather than fixed, user‐dependent settings. The system incorporates a stimulation engine supporting multiple TENS patterns and a microcontroller‐based controller that triggers closed‐loop intervention. A companion mobile application provides real‐time biofeedback, therapy logging, and longitudinal analytics to support individualized optimization. In a proof‐of‐concept study, TENS equivalent to MenstruEase increased paw‐withdrawal latency in female mice from 7.3 ± 0.2 s to approximately 10.7 s (∼45% increase; p = 0.012) in a hot‐plate model, with no noticeable adverse effects. We further outline a structured roadmap for AI integration to enable real‐time pain detection, prediction, and adaptive dose selection. MenstruEase thus represents a shift from reactive, static TENS therapy toward adaptive and data‐driven neuromodulation, establishing an AI‐ready platform for personalized dysmenorrhea management.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Menstrual Health and Disorders · Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior · Ovarian function and disorders

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

School of Biomedical Engineering and School of Marine Science and Technology Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen China

Department of Biochemical Engineering University College London London UK

Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering University College London London UK

UNSW Business School UNSW Sydney Kensington NSW Australia

Asset Integrity Penspen Ltd. Newcastle upon Tyne UK

Biosen International Shandong China

Aberdeen Institute of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence South China Normal University Foshan China

Funding

Department of Education of Guangdong Province · Shandong Key Laboratory of Biochemical Analysis

References (23)

Show source-provided references
1. 10.1371/journal.pone.022010310.1371/journal.pone.0220103 ↗
2. 10.3390/ijerph1704119110.3390/ijerph17041191 ↗
3. Diagnosis and Initial Management of Dysmenorrhea
4. 10.1126/science.150.3699.97110.1126/science.150.3699.971 ↗
5. 10.1054/jpai.2003.43410.1054/jpai.2003.434 ↗
6. 10.1016/j.explore.2020.08.00510.1016/j.explore.2020.08.005 ↗
7. 10.61096/ijrpp.v14.iss2.2025.368‐37510.61096/ijrpp.v14.iss2.2025.368‐375 ↗
8. Gunter J. · 2021
9. 10.1136/bmjopen‐2021‐05107310.1136/bmjopen‐2021‐051073 ↗
10. 10.1038/s41528‐023‐00273‐010.1038/s41528‐023‐00273‐0 ↗
11. 10.1109/tnsre.2021.310497210.1109/tnsre.2021.3104972 ↗
12. 10.1251/bpo11510.1251/bpo115 ↗
13. Liu Z. · 2924
14. 10.2147/IJWH.S22052310.2147/IJWH.S220523 ↗
15. 10.1038/s43856‐024‐00688‐410.1038/s43856‐024‐00688‐4 ↗
16. 10.3390/s2506176210.3390/s25061762 ↗
17. 10.1016/S0165‐0270(01)00483‐610.1016/S0165‐0270(01)00483‐6 ↗
18. 10.1016/0304‐3959(90)90021‐510.1016/0304‐3959(90)90021‐5 ↗
19. 10.1145/329898110.1145/3298981 ↗
20. J.Konečný H. B.McMahan F. X.Yu P.Richtárik A. T.Suresh andD.Bacon “Federated Learning: Strategies For Improving Communication Efficiency ”2016 https://arxiv.org/abs/1610.05492.
21. 10.1109/JBHI.2023.329195510.1109/JBHI.2023.3291955 ↗
22. 10.1007/s11517‐025‐03448‐110.1007/s11517‐025‐03448‐1 ↗
23. 10.1097/01.AOG.0000230214.26638.0c10.1097/01.AOG.0000230214.26638.0c ↗