Development of a gelatin-based artificial skin phantom for electrical treatments

An electrotherapy has become a popular physical therapy in the medical field in recent years. The wide applications include pain managements, cell repairing, and controls or treatments of various diseases. Since an electrotherapy is a relative new technology, there exists many potential applications under investigations. However, it’s still challenging to verify the effectiveness of electrotherapies on diseases because it requires clinical tests for certain illness. The improper use of the applied electricity can cause irreversible damage to patients. The aim of this research is to develop an artificial skin phantom via MEMS fabrication and laser ablation techniques. Its mechanical and electrical properties are close to those of real human skins. In addition, this phantom is biocompatible and can be used to culture cells for electrical stimulation study. In this research, the detailed fabrication process and the measured properties of the proposed phantom are mentioned and discussed. We also cultured cells on the phantom to investigate the biocompatibility. In the end of the thesis, we propose a potential device to investigate cell reactions to electrical stimulations for the research of electrotherapy.