Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2026
A Protocol of Manual Tests to Measure Sensation and Pain in Humans
Published on: December 19, 2016
Testing of a new pneumatic device to cause pain in humans
H M Schubert1, I H Lorenz, F Zschiegner
1Department of Trauma Surgery and Sports Medicine, University of Innsbruck, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria. heinrich.schubert@uibk.ac.at
Background:
Surgical pain typically combines superficial and deep pain. We wished to generate pain that resembled surgical pain, reliably and reproducibly, in volunteers.
Methods:
We constructed a computer-controlled pneumatic device to apply pressure to the anterior tibia. The reproducibility of the pain was tested by rating the pressure that caused pain rated 4-5 on a visual analogue scale (VAS) on days 0, 7, and 24 in 10 volunteers. The effect of remifentanil (0.025, 0.05, 0.075, and 0.1 microg kg-1 min-1) on pain tolerance in another set of volunteers (n=11) was used as an indirect measure of the reliability of pain production.
Results:
The pressure needed (0.7 (0.3) to 0.9 (0.4) atm (mean (SD)) to induce pain rated 4-5 (VAS) did not vary, showing long-term reproducibility of the method. When pressure was applied to cause increasing pain in volunteers (n=11) 0.05 microg kg-1 min-1 remifentanil increased pain tolerance by 50%. An approximate doubling of the dose (0.1 microg kg-1 min-1) increased pain tolerance significantly more. The linear logarithmic dose-effect relationship shows that the device causes pain reliably, and this can be reduced with opioid treatment.
Conclusion:
This pneumatic device can apply pain reliably and reproducibly.
