Circumferentially Wrappable Electrode for Uniform Current Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for treating surgically implanted metal devices with bacterial biofilms suffer from inconsistent and uneven electrical current distribution, leading to potential tissue damage and incomplete biofilm removal due to the design of traditional skin electrodes.
Innovation Solution
A wrappable electrode design that covers the entire circumference of a patient's limb, featuring a flexible covering, adhesive hydrogel layer, inert conductive layers, and a copper mesh for uniform electrification, along with alignment features for consistent placement of reference electrodes, to ensure even current distribution and minimize tissue harm.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a traditional skin electrode is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the current distribution becomes uneven and unreliable
Solution Approach 1:
The electrode is divided into multiple independent conductive elements arranged in a specific pattern, where each element contributes to the overall current distribution. This segmentation allows for more controlled and uniform current delivery across the treatment area while maintaining a manageable structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrode utilizes a composite structure combining conductive materials with specific geometric patterns, integrating multiple functional layers including conductive elements, adhesive layers, and protective coverings. This composite approach enables uniform current distribution while managing the overall device complexity through functional integration.
2Productivity
If the electrode covers a larger area to improve treatment coverage, then the biofilm removal effectiveness increases, but the risk of tissue damage increases due to uneven current distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The electrode incorporates conductive elements with varying properties and distributions across different regions, allowing for optimized current density in each local area. This ensures effective biofilm removal in high-priority zones while maintaining safer current levels in areas more susceptible to tissue damage, thus balancing productivity with safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrode design creates equipotential regions through its conductive element arrangement, ensuring that the electrical potential is distributed uniformly across the electrode surface. This prevents concentration of current in specific areas, thereby reducing the risk of tissue damage while maintaining effective treatment coverage across the entire electrode area.
3Ease of manufacture
If the electrode design is simplified for ease of manufacture, then the manufacturing cost decreases, but the current distribution uniformity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The conductive elements are pre-formed and pre-positioned in their final configuration during the manufacturing process, ensuring precise spatial arrangement for uniform current distribution. This preliminary action allows for manufacturing simplicity while maintaining the required precision in element placement, resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and current distribution uniformity.
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 consistent and effective biofilm removal from metal implants by ensuring uniform electrical current distribution, reducing the risk of tissue damage and optimizing treatment outcomes for surgically implanted devices.
Implementation Method 1
an inert conductive layer, made from carbon, and a copper mesh or matrix adhered to the inert conductive layer to improve electrification upon the inert conductive layer
Implementation Method 2
application of cathodic current to metal samples create chemical reactions at that surface that can disrupt and kill bacterial biofilms that exist on the metal
Implementation Method 3
an adhesive layer to enable the electrode to be attached to the skin of a patient
Data Source
AI summary
A wrappable electrode includes a flexible covering and a lead wire connecting the electrode to a stimulating device. The wrappable electrode further includes an adhesive layer to enable attachment to the skin of a patient and an inert conductive layer to which the lead wire is electrically coupled. The electrode is sized to be wrapped about at least a majority of a circumference of a limb of a patient in proximity to a metal surgically implanted device. The adhesive layer includes a buffered hydrogel. The electrode includes a separate conductive layer to evenly distribute electrical current relative to the metal implanted device, with the electrode serving as an anode and the implanted device serving as a cathode in a CVCES treatment system. The electrode can further include at least one feature to ensure proper placement on the skin of the patient.