KR101566781B1 - Electrode pad - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electrode pad for applying electrical stimulation by touching the skin of a user, which comprises: a patch touching the skin of the user, and capable of elastic deformation; a conductive body having a patch installation unit installed with the patch, forming a cavity with an empty inside inserted with a filler for elastic deformation, and being applied with a current; and a non-conductive cover for partially storing the conductive body.

Description

ELECTRODE PAD

The present invention relates to an electrode pad, and more particularly, to an electrode pad which is brought into contact with a skin of a user to apply electric stimulation.

Low-frequency therapy refers to the use of low-frequency waves for the treatment of nerves or muscles by energizing low-frequency pulses in the living body. In this regard, studies on electrodes that transmit low-frequency pulses to living bodies have been conducted. Currently, low-frequency therapy devices are widely used and products available to the general public are available.

On the other hand, brain electrical stimulation technique using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a stimulation technique for current flow in the brain. It is used for improving cognitive ability and for treating mental disorders such as depression and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) And so on.

Thus, if the brain electrical stimulation technique is available in everyday life, brain function can be improved, and continuous mental illness treatment may be possible by activating or inhibiting neural connections. However, since the electric stimulation device using a light two-pole DC electric stimulation stimulates the head, a high level of stability should be secured as compared with a low frequency stimulation device using a low frequency stimulus.

In particular, if an appropriate electrode is not used in light two-pole DC electrical stimulation, the current density on the electrode may become non-uniform. Specifically, due to the edge-effect of the electrode, the current density at the edge of the electrode can be increased.

As an example, a conventional electrode pad is shown in Fig.

The conductive body 111 of the conventional electrode pad has a convex-concave structure in which the patch mounting portion 115 on which a patch (not shown) contacting the skin of the user is mounted is formed in a labyrinth shape, As shown in Fig.

However, since the conductive body of the conventional electrode pad has a concavo-convex structure, the contact area between the conductive body and the patch is reduced, and the patch mounting portion is curved so as to be curved. In some cases, one area of the patch is lifted from the user's skin, and the contact area between the user's skin and the patch is reduced.

Therefore, in the conventional electrode pad, current flows locally only at a portion where the patch and skin contact each other due to a shortest path of electric current. In some cases, the electric field stimulates the user to feel stoop, It is possible.

Accordingly, there is a demand for development of an electrode pad that can increase the contact area between the user's skin and the patch, uniformize the current density generated in the patch, and stably apply electric stimulation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a skin care device capable of coping with various bending states of a user's skin, increasing a contact area between a skin and a patch of a user, It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrode pad which can be applied to the electrode pad.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrode pad for applying electrical stimulation to a skin of a user, A conductive body having a patch mounting portion on which the patch is mounted and forming a hollow cavity therein so as to allow elastic deformation; And a nonconductive cover partially receiving the conductive body.

Here, a filler may be further included in the cavity to provide an elastic force to the conductive body such that the patch is in close contact with the user's skin.

The conductive body may have at least one insertion hole for inserting the filler into the cavity.

The nonconductive cover forms a receiving portion in which the conductive body is accommodated and the nonconductive cover is disposed opposite to the receiving portion in such a manner that the conductive body does not interfere with the nonconductive cover when the conductive body is elastically deformed, At least a pair of peripheries may be curved.

The conductive body may be made of a conductive silicon material, and the nonconductive cover may be made of a nonconductive silicon material.

The filler may be a rubber or a sponge.

According to the present invention, by improving the structure of the conductive body, it is possible to cope with various bending states of the user's skin, to increase the contact area between the user's skin and the patch, to uniform the current density occurring in the patch, .

1 is a perspective view of an electrode pad according to an embodiment of the present invention,
Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of Fig. 1,
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of Fig. 1,
FIG. 4 is a view of an electric stimulation apparatus to which the electrode pad of FIG. 1 is applied,
5 is a perspective view of a conventional electrode pad.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 3 show electrode pads according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in these drawings, an electrode pad 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a patch 11, a conductive body 21, and a nonconductive cover 41.

The patch 11 has a sheet shape of a rectangular cross section and is mounted in face-to-face contact with a patch attaching / detaching portion of a conductive body 21 to be described later, and is in contact with the user's skin. The patch 11 receives electric current from the conductive body 21 and applies electrical stimulation to the user's skin.

The patch 11 is made of a material capable of being elastically deformed so as to function as a kind of cushion that can be compressed when the electrode pad 10 is in contact with the skin of the user. Is preferably applied.

On the other hand, the skin is composed of a keratin with a relatively high impedance and a keratin with a relatively low impedance. Since the current is likely to flow along a configuration other than the keratin with a relatively low impedance, the current is concentrated in a certain region Can flow. However, according to the electrode pad 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, since the hydrogel layer of the patch 11 can reduce the influence due to the difference in impedance between the keratin and the constituent other than the keratin, A current can be concentrated and prevented from flowing in a part of the skin, and current density can be uniformly formed in the entire area of the skin contacting with the electrode pad 10. Therefore, electrical stimulation can be stably applied through the electrode pad 10.

The conductive body 21 has a rectangular cross-section, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped shape. Thus, the conductive body 21 has four side walls 23a, 23b, 23c, and 23d having both open sides, a patch mounting portion 25 and a bottom portion 27 for shielding both side openings. The patch 11 is placed in a flat contact with the patch mounting portion 25.

The bottom portion 27 of the conductive body 21 is connected to the conductive conductor 29 so that the conductive body 21 receives current from the conductive conductor 29 and transfers it to the patch 11.

The conductive body 21 is made of a material having excellent electrical conductivity and being elastically deformable, and more preferably made of a conductive silicon material.

A hollow cavity 31 is formed inside the conductive body 21. When an external force is applied to the conductive body 21 from the outside, the cavity 31 is formed in the conductive body 21 21) is partially depressed. When the external force is removed, the conductive body 21 is restored to its original shape by its own elastic force.

The conductive body 21 is provided with a pair of insertion holes 35 for communicating with the cavity 31 and for inserting a filler 51 to be described later into the cavity 31. In the present embodiment, a pair of insertion holes 35 are formed in the pair of side wall portions 23a and 23c, respectively, which are mutually opposed among the four side wall portions 23a, 23b, 23c and 23d. This enables the filler 51 to be easily inserted into or separated from the cavity 31 through the insertion hole 35 of the conductive body 21. [ In addition, when the conductive body 21 is partially depressed according to the bending of the user's skin, the conductive body 21 is buffered by the insertion hole 35 and elastically deformed smoothly. Although not shown, the insertion hole 35 is formed in at least one of the four side wall portions 23a, 23b, 23c and 23d of the conductive body 21, the patch mounting portion 25 and the bottom portion 27 It is possible.

The nonconductive cover 41 has a tubular shape of a rectangular cross section with one side opened, forming a housing portion 43 in which the conductive body 21 is housed. The conductive body 21 is partially received and supported from the nonconductive cover 41. In addition, the nonconductive cover 41 and the conductive body 21 can be fitted together so as not to be separated easily. In this embodiment, the bottom surface of the accommodating portion 43 of the nonconductive cover 41 is curvedly formed, but the bottom surface may be formed flat.

The nonconductive cover 41 is provided with a curved portion 45 around a pair of openings disposed opposite to each other with the receiving portion 43 interposed therebetween. The curved portion 45 has a predetermined radius of curvature, .

When the conductive body 21 is received and coupled to the nonconductive cover 41 so that the insertion hole 35 of the conductive body 21 is positioned toward the curved portion 45 of the nonconductive cover 41, Even if the conductive body 21 accommodated in the conductive cover 41 is elastically deformed by the external force along the direction of the curved portion 45, the upper end region of the conductive body 21 is partially exposed, It will not interfere with the circumference. Therefore, no interference occurs between the skin of the user and the nonconductive cover 41, and the electric stimulation treatment can be stably performed.

Here, the nonconductive cover 41 in this embodiment is shown to be provided with the curved portion 45 around a pair of mutually opposing openings, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the non- The curved portion 45 may be provided.

The nonconductive cover 41 is made of a nonconductive material, and preferably made of a nonconductive silicon material. Since the nonconductive cover 41 is formed of a nonconductive material and surrounds the outer surface of the conductive body 21, the area of the electrode pad 10 which can be touched by the user's hand is insulated, .

The electrode pad 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention is accommodated in the cavity 31 of the conductive body 21 and provides an elastic force to the conductive body 21 so that the patch 11 comes into close contact with the user's skin (Not shown).

The filler 51 is made of a material having a low density and a good restoring force, and is preferably a rubber or a sponge.

By accommodating the filler 51 in the cavity 31 of the conductive body 21 as described above, when an external force acts on the conductive body 21, for example, the patch attachment portion 25 of the conductive body 21 The adhesive force between the user's skin and the patch 11 mounted on the patch mounting portion 25 is further increased due to the elastic force of the pillars 51 accommodated in the cavity 31. That is, The contact area between the user's skin and the patch 11 is further increased. When the external force is removed from the conductive body 21, the conductive body 21 is restored to its original shape by the self-elastic force of the conductive body 21 and the elastic force of the pillars 51.

FIG. 4 shows a band-type electric stimulation apparatus 1 to which an electrode pad 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

The electric stimulation apparatus 1 includes a frame 3 in the form of a band and an electrode pad 10 attached to the frame 3. The electrode pad 10 is attached to the inner surface of the frame 3 and can contact the scalp of the user when the electric stimulation device 1 is worn on the head. It is preferable to attach the electrode pad 10 so that the curved portion 45 of the nonconductive cover 41 of the electrode pad 10 is arranged transversely with respect to the longitudinal direction of the frame 3, 1 to the user's scalp, the electrode pad 10 can be smoothly attached to the user's scalp.

Since the outside of the electrode pad 10 is surrounded by the nonconductive cover 41, the user can safely use it. Since the electrode pad 10 has a hinge function capable of adjusting the angle, the portion of the electrode pad 10 that is in contact with the frame 3 allows the user to easily adhere the electrode pad 10 to his or her head.

As described above, when the electric stimulation apparatus 1 is worn on the user's head, the conductive body 21 and the patch 11 are elastically deformed according to the curvature of the scalp. At this time, the elasticity of the pillars 51 accommodated in the cavity 31 of the conductive body 21 reduces the lifting of the patch 11 from the scalp, so that the contact area between the user's scalp and the patch 11 is increased.

Then, when current is supplied to the conductive body 21, the electric current is applied to the user's scalp through the patch 11 to perform a desired treatment. At this time, the current density generated in the patch 11 becomes uniform, and the electrical stimulation is applied stably.

Accordingly, it is possible to solve the inconvenience that the user feels stoop when electric stimulation is performed.

Hereinafter, a conventional electrode pad (see FIG. 5) and an electrode pad 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention are attached to the band-type electric stimulation device 1 as shown in FIG. 4, And the patch 11 are measured and tested.

[Picture 1] below shows a photograph in which a conventional electrode pad is attached to a band-type electric stimulation device 1 as shown in FIG. 4, and then a current density is measured while wearing it on a user's head .

In the following [Photo 2], the electrode pad 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention is attached to the band-type electric stimulation device 1 as shown in FIG. 4, And the result of measuring the contact area between the scalp and the patch 11 is shown.

[Picture 1]

[Picture 2]

As shown in [Photo 1] and [Photo 2], when the electrode pad 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached. It can be confirmed that the contact area between the user's scalp and the patch 11 is relatively increased as compared with the case where the conventional electrode pad is attached.

Thus, since the user's head has various bent shapes and the conventional electrode pad does not have a shape and components for closely contacting the patch to the user's scalp, the patch of the conventional electrode pad is partially The contact area between the scalp and the patch of the user becomes small as shown in [Picture 1], so that the electric current locally flows at a specific position of the patch at the time of electric stimulation, so that the user feels stoop, I can wear it.

The electrode pad 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention is formed by forming the cavity 31 in the conductive body 21 so that the patch 11 is brought into close contact with the scalp of the user, By accommodating the filler 51 that provides elastic force to the scalp in the cavity 31, the patch 11 of the electrode pad 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is prevented from being partially lifted with the scalp of the user As shown in [Photo 2], the contact area between the scalp and the patch 11 of the user is greatly increased, thereby preventing the current from locally flowing at a specific position of the patch 11 during the electric stimulation, Electric stimulation can be applied.

As described above, according to the present invention, by improving the structure of the conductive body, it is possible to cope with various bending states of the user's skin, increase the contact area between the user's skin and the patch, uniformize the current density generated in the patch, So that electric stimulation can be applied.

Meanwhile, although the patch, the conductive body, and the nonconductive cover are shown to have a rectangular cross-sectional shape in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto and may have a circular, elliptical, or polygonal cross-sectional shape.

In the above-described embodiment, the filler is inserted into the cavity through the insertion hole of the conductive body. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the filler may be insert-molded into the cavity of the conductive body without forming the fitting hole in the conductive body It is possible.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, such modifications or variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.

10: electrode pad 11: patch
21: conductive body 25: patch mounting portion
31: cavity 35: insertion hole
41: nonconductive cover 51: filler

Claims (6)

1. An electrode pad for applying electrical stimulation to a skin of a user,
A patch which is in contact with the user's skin and can be elastically deformed;
A conductive body having a patch mounting portion on which the patch is mounted and forming a hollow cavity therein so as to allow elastic deformation;
A nonconductive cover partially receiving the conductive body; And
And a filler received in the cavity to provide an elastic force to the conductive body such that the patch is in close contact with the skin of the user. delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the conductive body has at least one insertion hole for inserting the filler into the cavity. 1. An electrode pad for applying electrical stimulation to a skin of a user,
A patch which is in contact with the user's skin and can be elastically deformed;
A conductive body having a patch mounting portion on which the patch is mounted and forming a hollow cavity therein so as to allow elastic deformation; And
And a nonconductive cover partially receiving the conductive body,
Wherein the nonconductive cover forms a receiving portion for receiving the conductive body,
Wherein at least a pair of circumferential portions of the nonconductive cover which are opposed to each other with the receiving portion interposed therebetween are curved so as to prevent the conductive body from interfering with the nonconductive cover when the conductive body is elastically deformed. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the conductive body is made of a conductive silicon material, and the nonconductive cover is made of a nonconductive silicon material. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the filler is rubber or sponge.

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