A finite element model to identify electrode influence on current distribution in the skin N. Sha 1 , L.P.J. Kenney 1 , B.H. Heller 2 , A.T. Barker 3 , D. Howard 1 , M. Moatamedi 4 1. CRHPR, University of Salford, Salford, UK 2. Centre for Sport and Exercise Science, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK 3. Dept of Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK 4. Institute for Materials Research, University of Salford, Salford, UK Corresponding author: Laurence Kenney Address: Brian Blatchford Building, University of Salford, Salford, M6 6PU, UK; E-mail: l.p.j.kenney@salford.ac.uk; Tel: 0044-(0)161-295-2289 Abstract Discomfort experienced during surface functional electrical stimulation (FES) is thought to be partly a result of localised high current density in the skin underneath the stimulating electrode. This paper describes a finite element (FE) model to predict skin current density distribution in the region of the electrode during stimulation and 1