Tissue-Mimicking Material for Long-Term Transcranial Electrical Stimulation

Tissue-mimicking materials are employed in multi-layered head phantoms to investigate the distribution of electric current during transcranial electrical stimulation under realistic conditions. Gel-based tissue substitutes containing saline solution are widely used in the head phantoms to simulate electrical conductivity of one or more tissues. These materials possess short shelf-life, limiting the electrical stability and robustness of the phantom over time. This work aims to address these challenges by presenting an inherently stable, conductive polymer-based tissue-mimicking material that can be used to fabricate multi-layered head phantoms for long-term stimulation experiments. The material maintains stable DC and AC conductivity over a frequency range of 4 Hz to 1000 Hz for up to 70 days.