Abstract

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.

Highlights

  • (5) Rubber layer printing around the electrode edges and silver tracks to provide electrode adhesion to the fabric and protect the conductive tracks (Figure 4e)

  • This paper presents the fabrication process of an electrode textile used in electrotherapy for pain relief

  • The Young’s modulus of the dry electrode was 0.22 MPa which is softer than human skin providing good conformability and comfort in wearable applications

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Summary

Introduction

Printed Wearable Electrode Textile for Electrotherapy Application. Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Electrotherapy is a common therapeutic treatment which applies 0–100 milliampere current through electrodes placed on the skin to stimulate the nerve and interfere with the transmission of pain signals. It can be used in pain relief for knee osteoarthritis which will affect 8.3 million people in the UK by 2035 [1]. Traditional electrotherapy devices use gel electrodes which are not compatible with textiles [2]. The soft and tacky (but not sticky) novel electrode combines the advantages of the dry electrode (e.g., easy to use, easy to maintain) and gel electrode (e.g., good skin contact, no hot spots) [4]. This work presents the fabrication process of an electrode textile, and its mechanical property and durability during bending and washing

Materials
Tensile Test
Printing Method
Fabrication Process
Durability Test
Conclusions and Future Work

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