Reusable Flexible Concentric Electrodes Coated With a Conductive Graphene Ink for Electrotactile Stimulation

Benjamin Stephens-Fripp; Vitor Sencadas; Rahim Mutlu; Gursel Alici

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2018.00179

Reusable Flexible Concentric Electrodes Coated With a Conductive Graphene Ink for Electrotactile Stimulation

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2018 Dec 3:6:179. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2018.00179. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Benjamin Stephens-Fripp^{1

2}, Vitor Sencadas^{1

2}, Rahim Mutlu^{1

2}, Gursel Alici^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.
² ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.

Abstract

Electrotactile stimulation is a highly promising technique for providing sensory feedback information for prosthetics. To this aim, disposable electrodes which are predominantly used result in a high environmental and financial cost when used over a long period of time. In addition, disposable electrodes are limited in their size and configurations. This paper presents an alternative approach based on a 3D printed reusable flexible concentric electrode coated with a conductive graphene ink. Here, we have characterized the electrode and demonstrated its effective performance in electrotactile stimulation and sensory feedback for robotic prosthetic hands.

Keywords: 3D printed electrode; conductive ink; dry electrode; electrocutaneous stimulation; graphene; sensory feedback.