Electrode With Breakable Fluid Container For Skin Contact
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrodes for monitoring and applying physiological signals are not easy to use and are inefficient to manufacture, and they often fail to provide effective electrical connections due to suboptimal conductivity and irritation issues.
Innovation Solution
The electrode design includes a body with a container for contact-enhancing fluid that disperses upon physical manipulation, enhancing electrical conductivity and reducing irritation, using materials like hydrogel and water to minimize impedance and facilitate attachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If wet electrodes with fluid are used to enhance electrical conductivity, then electrical connection effectiveness is improved, but device complexity and ease of manufacture deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The electrode is divided into distinct functional components: a reusable body portion and a disposable fluid-containing portion. This segmentation allows the complex fluid management aspects to be isolated in a replaceable component, simplifying the overall system architecture while maintaining effective electrical connection through the fluid interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The contact-enhancing fluid is pre-loaded into the electrode body in a controlled manner during manufacturing. This preliminary action ensures proper fluid placement and concentration before use, eliminating the need for complex fluid application procedures during electrode attachment while maintaining reliable electrical conductivity.
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional adhesive attachment methods are used, then ease of manufacture is improved, but ease of operation and user experience deteriorate due to skin irritation and handling inconvenience
Solution Approach 1:
The potentially irritating adhesive components are extracted and separated from the main electrode body, placed instead in a removable protective layer or separate attachment component. This allows the electrode to maintain ease of manufacture while improving ease of operation, as users can handle the non-irritating body portion and only apply adhesive when ready for attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
A disposable adhesive layer or protective covering is used that is discarded after a single use. This inexpensive component absorbs the irritation issue, allowing the reusable electrode body to maintain good handling characteristics while the disposable portion manages the attachment function with minimized skin irritation.
3Productivity
If reusable electrodes are designed, then productivity and cost-effectiveness are improved, but reliability deteriorates due to fluid depletion and contamination over time
Solution Approach 1:
The electrode system is segmented into a reusable body portion and a consumable fluid portion. The reusable body maintains its structural integrity and electrical components over multiple uses, while the fluid portion is replaced when depleted or contaminated, ensuring continuous reliable performance without compromising productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The contact-enhancing fluid is designed as a consumable resource that is discarded when depleted or contaminated, while the expensive electrode body is recovered and reused. This approach maintains high reliability by ensuring fresh fluid contact with each use while maximizing productivity through reuse of the durable electrode structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides effective, easy-to-use electrodes with improved electrical connections, efficient manufacturing, and options for reusability or disposability, while minimizing skin irritation and handling inconvenience.
Implementation Method 1
The container is configured to disperse the contact-enhancing fluid into the body in response to physical manipulation
Implementation Method 2
The fluid can include materials such as but not limited to liquids such as water or saline and/or hydrogel that alleviate irritation or other undesired effects on the skin or other tissue on which the electrode is placed
Data Source
AI summary
An electrode includes a body and a breakable container of contact-enhancing fluid on or in the body. The container is impermeable to the fluid, and is breakable in response to physical manipulation of the electrode to disperse the fluid into the body.