Page 46 - MSAM-2-4

Materials Science in

Additive Manufacturing

REVIEW ARTICLE
Current materials for 3D-printed flexible medical

electrodes

1
1
Yiting Huang , Qi Zhu , Haofan Liu , Ya Ren , Li Zhang , Maling Gou *
1
1
1
2
1 Department of Biotherapy, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China
Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
2 Huahang Microcreate Technology Co., Ltd, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Abstract

Electrodes serve as essential tools for both acquiring and stimulating electrical
signals, pivotal in monitoring human health through electrophysiological signals
and playing a significant role in disease management and treatment. Notably,
Young’s modulus of flexible electrodes is similar to that of tissues and organs, thereby
avoiding tissue or organ damage arising from mechanical mismatch. Thus, flexible
electrodes become the fundamental devices for ensuring the stable, long-term
acquisition of electrical signals and delivering reversed electrical stimulation to
guide disease treatment. Reducing the size of flexible electrodes and increasing
the number of electrode channels are significant for improving the sensitivity and
accuracy of signal acquisition. In comparison to traditional manufacturing methods,
3D printing technology is able to fabricate products with higher resolution at a much
faster speed. It is customizable and provides a novel approach for preparing flexible
electrodes. Many conductive materials have been developed and applied to prepare
*Corresponding author:
Maling Gou flexible electrodes, and some have been integrated into 3D printing techniques,
(goumaling@scu.edu.cn) driving forward the development of 3D-printed flexible electrodes in medical fields.
This article reviews recent research advances concerning the combination of these
Citation: Huang Y, Zhu Q, Liu H,
Ren Y, Zhang L, Gou M, 2023, materials with 3D printing technology to prepare flexible electrodes and categorizes
Current materials for 3D-printed the materials into four main groups, namely metallic materials, carbon-based
flexible medical electrodes. Mater materials, conductive polymers, and other materials. In addition, we outline the
Sci Add Manuf, 2(4): 2084.
https://doi.org/10.36922/msam.2084 future directions regarding the application of 3D-printed flexible electrodes in
clinical research and medical translation.
Received: October 22, 2023
Accepted: November 24, 2023
Keywords: 3D printing; Biomaterials; Flexible electrodes; Conductive materials
Published Online: December 12,
2023
Copyright: © 2023 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article 1. Introduction
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution Electrophysiological signals usually arise concomitantly with human physiological
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, activities. The acquisition and analysis of electrophysiological signals can be used
provided the original work is to monitor human body status and guide the treatment of some diseases [1-4] . Given
properly cited. their important roles in extracting electrophysiological information directly from the
Publisher’s Note: AccScience human-body interface and providing feedback, electrodes are in great demand in the
Publishing remains neutral with clinical and medical fields . In addition to acquiring electrophysiological signals,
[5]
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional external electrical signals can be transmitted to the cerebral cortex or even deeper
affiliations. brain regions through electrodes, assisting in controlling limb movement and other

Volume 2 Issue 4 (2023) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/msam.2084