Abstract—In the paper the research of flat textile products for use as electrodes was presented. Material’s resistance measurements were carried out to determine the suitability of the textiles. Based on the received results of studies different types of textile electrodes were designed. Textile electrodes tests were carried out on human phantoms. The electro-conductive properties of human forearm phantom were also described. Based on this results special electro- conductive hydrogels with electro-conductive particles were feasible. The hydrogel is an important element of the forearm’s phantom model of a survey of electrodes for muscle electrostimulation. The hydrogel is an equivalent human skin and tissue. The hydrogel should have a permanence and recurrence of the electro-conductive properties. Keywords—Electro-conductive textiles, electrostimulation, forearm phantom, resistance measurement, textile electrodes. I. INTRODUCTION HE electro-conductive flat textile products are may be applied to especially in medical applications such as: systems monitoring physiological parameters [1], or for bioimpedance spectroscopy [2], textile sensors for cardiac monitoring [3, 4], textile electrodes [5] etc. Electrotherapy is an important part of physical therapy, which is used for medicinal purposes in various types of electrical stimuli. Accordingly, applied electric current can cause a therapeutic effect of a stimulus and analgesic (neuromuscular stimulation, pain-killing, improvement of tissue perfusion, decreased muscle tone, easing inflammation, accelerate the absorption of edema, improve metabolism, tissue regeneration etc.) [6, 7, 8]. In the framework of the project titled “Textronic system to electrical stimulation of muscles” implemented under the Operational Programme Innovative Economy, the optimal design of the textile electrodes intended for electro-stimulation of muscles is carried out. The textile electrodes are the new product which can replace the traditional metal or graphite electrodes. They are elastic and good fitted to body shape (legs or arms). At the same time they do not give feelings of discomfort or pressure, and they are more friendly to the patient. Especially they can be used to muscles electrostimulation during the therapy. The electrodes require studies proving its usefulness. In order to test the textile electrodes model mapping impedance properties of forearm’s phantom was constructed. Estimation of electroconductive properties the human forearm is needed to phantom construction. Authors are with Lodz University of Technology, Department of Clothing Technology and Textronics, st. Zeromskiego 116, 90-924 Lodz, Poland (phone: +48 42 631 33 99; fax: +48 42 631 33 21; e-mail: michal.frydrysiak@p.lodz.pl). The properties can be evaluated on the basis on measurements of surface resistance of the skin and its capacity. These quantities depend on skin moisture, electrolyte, thickness of the epidermis and individual human characteristics etc. Current studies are an important contribution to the development of a new area of engineering knowledge called textronics, which combines three areas: textiles, electronics and computer science [9]. II. MATERIALS AND METHODS Flat textile products for the textile electrodes should not cause patient’s allergic reaction. The textile materials should have a good electrical conductivity. Moreover an important is the stability of the textile electrodes for long-term measurements. Selected properties of electro-coductive textile samples are presented in Table I. TABLE I ELECTROCONDUCTIVE TEXTILE SAMPLES The measure of electro-conductive properties of textiles is the resistance. To determine the resistance four-point probe technique was used [10]. For this purpose textile samples of seventy millimeters square were prepared. Electric scheme for resistance measurement is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Four brass electrodes were located at sample surface so close to edges as possible. Two adjacent electrodes were powered by a precision current source DC Power Supply Agilent E3644A (range: 0-8 V and 8 A). Between the other two electrodes voltage drop was measured using multimeter Agilent 34410A (6½ Digit, range: 0-1000 V). The pressure of a single electrode on the sample was 23 kPa. M. Frydrysiak, J. Zięba, L. Tęsiorowski, and M. Tokarska Textronic System to Muscle Electrostimulation T Kind of textile material Material Surface mass Thickness - - g/m2 mm Woven fabric Metallized nylon (Sn, Cu, Ag) 82 0.07 Silver fibres 76 0.19 149 0.41 PES/ Nickel metallized 155 0.30 65 0.17 83 0.09 152 0.32 Knitted fabric Silver fibres 135 0.55 109 0.39 134 0.37 Silver monofilaments 47 0.29 Silver fibres 128 0.47 Non-woven fabric Graphite fibres 64 0.40 PES/ Nickel metallized 251 1.75 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Biomedical and Biological Engineering Vol:6, No:11, 2012 580 International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 6(11) 2012 scholar.waset.org/1307-6892/1662 International Science Index, Biomedical and Biological Engineering Vol:6, No:11, 2012 waset.org/Publication/1662