Estimation of current density distribution under electrodes for external defibrillation.docVIP

BioMedical Engineering OnLine BioMedCentral Research Open Access Estimation of current density distribution under electrodes for external defibrillation Vessela Tz Krasteva* and Sava P Papazov Address: Center for Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev str. block 105 Sofia 1113, Bulgaria Email: Vessela Tz Krasteva* - vessika@clbme.bas.bg; Sava P Papazov - papasow@vmei.acad.bg * Corresponding author Published: 16 December 2002 Received: 4 October 2002 Accepted: 16 December 2002 BioMedical Engineering OnLine 2002, 1:7 This article is available from: /content/1/1/7 ? 2002 Krasteva and Papazov; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permit- ted in all media for any purpose, provided this notice is preserved along with the articles original URL. Abstract Background: Transthoracic defibrillation is the most common life-saving technique for the restoration of the heart rhythm of cardiac arrest victims. The procedure requires adequate application of large electrodes on the patient chest, to ensure low-resistance electrical contact. The current density distribution under the electrodes is non-uniform, leading to muscle contraction and pain, or risks of burning. The recent introduction of automatic external defibrillators and even wearable defibrillators, presents new demanding requirements for the structure of electrodes. Method and Results: Using the pseudo-elliptic differential equation of Laplace type with appropriate boundary conditions and applying finite element method modeling, electrodes of various shapes and structure were studied. The non-uniformity of the current density distribution was shown to be moderately improved by adding a low resistivity layer between the metal and tissue and by a ring around the electrode perimeter. The inclusion of openings in long-term we