32V TENS device from built from scratch under $100
Details
- External ID
- 45954228
- Source
- HN
- Company
- —
- Product
- 32V TENS device from built from scratch under $100
- Website domain
- github.io
- Launched
- Nov. 17, 2025
- Cohort
- —
- Upvotes
- 70
- Upvotes percentile
- 0.8733624454148472
- Tags
- —
- Fetched at
- Sept. 7, 2026, 9:25 p.m.
- Updated at
- Sept. 7, 2026, 9:25 p.m.
Enrichment
- Theme
- open-source hardware and embedded electronics
- Vertical
- Healthcare
- Function
- Hardware & robotics
- Audience
- B2C
- AI stance
- Not AI
- Project type
- Commercial product
- Normalized one-liner
- low-cost tens device
- Manually corrected
- False
Could you build this?
No This is physical hardware engineering requiring custom high-voltage circuit design, PCB layout, power electronics selection, and firmware for human electrical nerve stimulation.
What it would actually take: Building a safe TENS device requires custom PCB schematic design and layout in KiCad/Altium, selecting boost converters (to step 3.7V to 32V), and designing discrete BJT current-limiting stages. Firmware must be written in embedded C/C++ to generate precise monophasic microsecond PWM pulse trains without DC offset drift that can burn tissue. It demands electrical engineering expertise, power electronics proficiency, and knowledge of medical device safety standards.
Discussion
20 comments analyzed.
Competitors mentioned: TENS units (commercial $20-40 Amazon devices), Pulse transformer-based TENS systems
Concerns raised: Safety hazards and complexity of protection circuitry, Monophasic waveforms less safe than biphasic, Unclear if it actually works or just marketing, All finger outputs tied together despite claiming dedicated channels, Lacks pictures/documentation of real performance
Feature requests: Biphasic waveform output instead of monophasic, TENS integrated into wearable (shirt/shorts with built-in pads), Integration with digital oscilloscope for low-latency feedback, Better MCU protection beyond ferrite bead
Competitors
Other products that read as similar to this one — 137 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.
Attention rank: #25 of 138 (itself plus its competitors, highest first — normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).
Launched 6 days after the earliest competitor.
- Making an 1800mah e-ink device last up to 6 months · hn · 2026-02-24 · 9 upvotes · similarity 0.45
- BonDriver-RTLSDR · github · 2026-09-23 · 18 upvotes · similarity 0.44
- ps3-sb-uart-loader · github · 2026-09-20 · 11 upvotes · similarity 0.42
- PALPack · github · 2026-09-20 · 16 upvotes · similarity 0.41
- HYBRID-IR · github · 2026-09-26 · 16 upvotes · similarity 0.40
- I built a portable Yahtzee device with custom PCB and WASM simulator · hn · 2025-12-31 · 8 upvotes · similarity 0.40
- retro-bridge · github · 2026-09-14 · 15 upvotes · similarity 0.39
- S-MU2000 · github · 2026-09-12 · 30 upvotes · similarity 0.38
Other launches for this product
- No other launches for this product.
Same idea, different domain
Nobody's really built a hardware & robotics tool for Horizontal yet.