Electrotherapy device Highlights • A fabric electrode has been fabricated using the combination of weaving and printing technologies. • The conductive yarn pattern was optimized (2.5mm by 2.5mm grid) to achieve even current distribution of the electrode layer. • Asymmetric centrifugal mixing can breakdown the carbon particles and produce a high density (without voids) electrode. • The wearable electrotherapy was comfortable to wear and easy to use. • The prototype has been tested on six volunteers with osteoarthritis knee joint pain. Four out of six have reported noticeable pain reduction by using the device.
An electrode is a fundamental element used in many electrotherapy devices. This work presents a novel dry electrode made from carbon and silicone rubber materials for wearable electrotherapy applications. The electrode was mixed using a speed mixer and fabricated using stencil printing. This paper investigates the resistivity change of the electrode under the pressure from 0 mmHg to 32.4 mmHg; and the skin–electrode impendence with the current frequency from 20 Hz to 10,000 Hz. The resistivity of the novel dry electrode is 24.6 ± 1.5 Ω∙m when the pressure on electrode is 17.7 mmHg. The skin–electrode impedance reduced from 1001.6 Ω to 145.3 Ω when the frequency increased from 20 Hz to 10,000 Hz.
Electrotherapy is a common therapeutic treatment used in pain relief. This paper presents the materials and fabrication methods used to manufacture an electrode textile for electrotherapy application. The Young’s modulus of the electrode is 0.22 MPa. The electrode textile consists of conductive tracks sandwiched between an interface layer and an encapsulation layer, and an electrode layer printed directly on top of the conductive grid patterns. The interface, conductive silver, and encapsulation layers were directly printed on fabric using screen printing. The electrode layer was printed using stencil printing. The electrode textile can survive 10,000 bending cycles around a cylinder with a diameter of 30 mm and 20 washes in a commercial washing machine.
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