An Arduino-based interactive tool for pain education: a pilot study

dc.contributor.authorArgüello Prada, Erick Javier
dc.contributor.authorGómez, Angie Natalia Barón
dc.date.accessioned2025-07-10T21:21:34Z
dc.date.available2025-07-10T21:21:34Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.abstractAs occurs with many other topics of pain curricula, lectures on pain neurophysiology are predominantly theoretical, and the practical experiences required to deliver that content to learners can be problematic regarding sustainability, logistics, and funding. Therefore, this study presents the development and testing of a microcontroller-based interactive tool to assist university-level pain neurophysiology teaching and facilitate a hands-on approach to exploring the functional connectivity of pain pathways. The proposed system consists of a sensing module that conveys electrical signals elicited by thermal and mechanical stimuli to an Arduino Nano board. The latter acts as a processing module and contains a codified version of a Neuroid-based network model of the pain circuitry. Our prototype was tested during a lecture on pain neurophysiology attended by forty-seven undergraduate health sciences students, who were instructed to observe the neural responses to sensory stimulation while altering the pain circuitry’s excitatory-inhibitory balance. We collected participants’ opinions via a 3-point Likert-type scale with seventeen questions regarding the tool’s composition, appropriateness, and theoretical foundation. Besides allowing students to explore the functional connectivity of pain pathways without the limitations posed by in-vivo or in-vitro models, the proposed tool achieved overall positive feedback among the surveyed.
dc.identifier.citationArgüello-Prada, E. J., & Gómez, A. N. B. (2024). An Arduino-based interactive tool for pain education: a pilot study. Cogent Education, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2378244
dc.identifier.issn2331186X
dc.identifier.urihttps://repositorio.usc.edu.co/handle/20.500.12421/7377
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherTaylor and Francis Ltd.
dc.subjectArduino microcontroller
dc.subjectinteractive learning approaches
dc.subjectMedicine
dc.subjectneuron model
dc.subjectNeuroscience
dc.subjectNursing
dc.subjectPain education
dc.subjectPhysiological Science
dc.subjectreal-time simulation
dc.subjectStephen Darwin
dc.subjectUniversidad Alberto Hurtado
dc.subjectChile
dc.titleAn Arduino-based interactive tool for pain education: a pilot study
dc.typeArticle

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
An Arduino-based interactive tool for pain education.pdf
Size:
3.07 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format