Screen printed fabric electrode array for wearable functional electrical stimulation
Screen printed fabric electrode array for wearable functional electrical stimulation
Functional electrical stimulation (FES) activates nerves using electrical currents, and is widely used in medical applications to assist movement of patients with central nervous system lesions. The recent emergence of small electrode arrays enables greater muscle selectivity and reduces fatigue compared to the use of traditional large electrodes; however existing fabrication techniques are expensive and have limited flexibility and comfort which limits patient uptake. This work presents a screen printed flexible and breathable fabric electrode array (FEA) which consists of four printed functional layers. Successful operation has been demonstrated by stimulating an optimised selection of electrodes in order to achieve clinically relevant reference postures (‘pointing’, ‘pinch’ and ‘open hand’). The materials with skin contact used in FEA have been cytotoxicity tested to establish that they are biocompatible. The FEA demonstrates the potential for printable polymer materials to realise comfortable, wearable and cost effective functional systems in healthcare applications.
108-115
Yang, K.
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Freeman, C.T.
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Torah, R.N.
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Beeby, S.P.
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Tudor, J.
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1 July 2014
Yang, K.
f1c9b81d-e821-47eb-a69e-b3bc419de9c7
Freeman, C.T.
ccdd1272-cdc7-43fb-a1bb-b1ef0bdf5815
Torah, R.N.
7147b47b-db01-4124-95dc-90d6a9842688
Beeby, S.P.
ba565001-2812-4300-89f1-fe5a437ecb0d
Tudor, J.
46eea408-2246-4aa0-8b44-86169ed601ff
Yang, K., Freeman, C.T., Torah, R.N., Beeby, S.P. and Tudor, J.
(2014)
Screen printed fabric electrode array for wearable functional electrical stimulation.
Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 213, .
(doi:10.1016/j.sna.2014.03.025).
Abstract
Functional electrical stimulation (FES) activates nerves using electrical currents, and is widely used in medical applications to assist movement of patients with central nervous system lesions. The recent emergence of small electrode arrays enables greater muscle selectivity and reduces fatigue compared to the use of traditional large electrodes; however existing fabrication techniques are expensive and have limited flexibility and comfort which limits patient uptake. This work presents a screen printed flexible and breathable fabric electrode array (FEA) which consists of four printed functional layers. Successful operation has been demonstrated by stimulating an optimised selection of electrodes in order to achieve clinically relevant reference postures (‘pointing’, ‘pinch’ and ‘open hand’). The materials with skin contact used in FEA have been cytotoxicity tested to establish that they are biocompatible. The FEA demonstrates the potential for printable polymer materials to realise comfortable, wearable and cost effective functional systems in healthcare applications.
Text
Yang Sensors and Actuators A 2014
- Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 17 March 2014
e-pub ahead of print date: 18 April 2014
Published date: 1 July 2014
Organisations:
EEE
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 361377
URI: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/361377
ISSN: 0924-4247
PURE UUID: 94d53ecd-aa60-4a71-a65b-0b753da06cbc
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Date deposited: 18 Jan 2014 17:50
Last modified: 22 Oct 2019 00:54
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Contributors
Author:
K. Yang
Author:
C.T. Freeman
Author:
R.N. Torah
Author:
S.P. Beeby
Author:
J. Tudor
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