Abstract—In recent years, further basic research is required for phantoms with artificial skin and bodily fluid/gelatin mixtures containing normal saline solution (NSS). The phantom used in this study mainly consisted of silicon rubber and had small amounts of other chemical substances. The phantom possessed the stature of an average middle-aged to elderly Japanese man. This humanoid phantom, along with other similar ones, has been used in experiments conducted by the communications industry to measure electromagnetic wave streams and diffusion from common cellular phones. In this work, we measured the propagation and diffusion of alternating currents on and within the phantom over measurement frequencies ranging from 5 Hz to 1 MHz. We also partially wrapped the phantom with skin-imitating gel sheets. Finally, we mixed NSS with the gel sheets, and, by analyzing the data obtained, elucidated the effect of common electric currents from medical machines (e.g., low-frequency therapy equipment) on a common pacemaker and other embedded electrical modules. We suggest practical information and advice for further improvements for the physically challenged and the elderly. Our device holds promise for researchers and developers of phantoms and robots used as virtual physical simulators, which can be combined with existing computational simulation software.

Index Terms—Propagation of alternating currents, artificial rubber phantom, gel sheet, normal saline solution, influence of embedded electrical modules.

The authors are with National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Department of Information Technology and Human Factors, Robot Innovation Research Center 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8560 Japan (email: s.kawakura@aist.go.jp).

Cite: Shinji Kawakura, Yoshihiro Nakabo, Kiyoshi Fujiwara, "Propagation of Currents on a Humanoid Phantom with Skin-Imitating Sheets Mixed with a Normal Saline Solution to Determine the Effect of Embedded Modules," International Journal of Bioscience, Biochemistry and Bioinformatics vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 42-52, 2018.