研發人工皮膚仿體應用於電刺激治療

Abstract

近年來，電療已是普及於醫療領域的物理治療療程，它被泛用於紓解疼痛、細胞修復及各種疾病的控制或治療，例如，下背痛可用電刺激療法來治療。電療是近數十年來才興起的新興療法，還有許多應用上的可能性待研究者去探討。然而，開發新療程的過程十分艱困，每次開發都需要找到有相對應疾病的病人進行電擊測試，十分沒效率，且測試的電擊又可能導致病人不必要的傷害。因此，本研究利用微機電及雷射蝕刻製程開發一種皮膚仿體，可供電療研究者做為測試平台。此仿體的力學特性及電特性和人類的表皮層相仿，且其電特性可依需求做調整。此外，此仿體具有生物相容性，這使得研究者可以在此仿體上培養電療的目標細胞，並對其施以電擊並觀察細胞反應，進而探討電療之療效。 在本文中仿體的製程、力學及電學特性量測都被詳細討論，亦實際在仿體上操作細胞培養以討論其生物相容性。最後，本文亦提出一個可能可用來探討細胞電反應的簡單實驗設計，供電療研究者參考。

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.