Electrolysis

+ −
NaCl → Na + Cl
Electric current is formed by mobility of ions:
•Cl- ions moving to the positive electrode : anode,
•Na+i ons moving to the negative electrode : cathode
Electrical current in organisms is generally not
carried by electrons. Instead it is carried by the
mobile ions, such as Na+, Cl-, K+ of electrolytic
solutions. Ohm’s law reminds valid for
electrolytic current. The typical order of
resistivity for body fluid is about 1 . This is
eight order of magnitudes of the resistivity of
copper.
Unit VIII: Electricity II

 Nerve system
 Resting & Action potentials
 Electrocardiogram (ECG)
 Galvanic treatment
 Faradic treatment
 Microcurrent treatment
 Bioelectric potentials

• Bioelectric potentials are involved in nerve

impulses, brain conductivity, heartbeat, muscle
contraction, etc.

• They are caused by ionic activity in excitable cells,

such as nerves and muscles. Bioelectric potentials
can also be called signals, or electric voltages.
The nervous cell
•The nervous system controls the movement of the
body. The neuron, or nerve cell ( 神經細胞 , 神經
元 ) is the basic component of nervous system. The
nucleus of the nerve cell is located in the spinal cord.
The axon:
carries messages to the muscle is
called the axon.
a long fiber which is usually a
few micrometers in diameter and
a meter or longer in length.
is immersed in body fluid and is
enclosed by a selectively
permeable (semi-permeable)
membrane.
 The body fluid :

•An electrolyte
solution,
•Contains sodium
(Na+), potassium (K+),
chloride (Cl-)
•They are inside and
outside of the cell
When the cell is at rest state :
• the sodium -potassium pump pumps sodium out of the
cell, and potassium into the cell. This is an active
process.
• there is a high concentration of sodium outside the
cell and a high concentration of potassium inside the
cell.
• the cell membrane is relatively impermeable to
sodium, but quite permeable to potassium.
• most of the sodium is kept outside the cell, but
potassium can diffuse out of the cell. This is a
passive process.
Resting potential
The imbalance of the ions keeps the potential inside the
cell negative compared to the outside of the cell. This
cell voltage is called resting potential and is usually
between -70 mV and -90mV. The cell is said to be
polarized in its resting state.
Action potential
When a voltage is applied to
the nerve cell membrane, or
when other external stimuli
are applied to the nerve cell
•the membrane becomes
permeable to sodium.
•Sodium rushes into the cell
•the electric potential of
inside cell becomes positive
•The resulting voltage is
about +20mV.
•The cell is now depolarized.
The membrane then becomes less permeable to Na+
ions and more permeable to K+ ions. Potassium
diffuses out of the cell to restore the electric potential
(repolarization). The diffusion of sodium and then
potassium causes changes in the membrane potential.
This is called an action potential.

After the action potential is over, the sodium-

potassium pump restores the sodium potassium
gradient between inside and outside of the cell. The
cell is now ready to respond to another stimulus.
 The heart: double pump , four chambers

•right atrium : receiving blood from body

•right ventricle: pumping blood to lungs for re-oxygenation
•left atrium: receiving oxygenated blood from the lungs
•left ventricle: pumping blood around the body,
 Synchronization of heartbeat

 The heartbeat is like a double pumps synchronized

and regulated by electrical stimuli, which
• generated by muscle cells from the sino-atrial node
(SA node) in the right auricle,
•acting as a pacemaker for the heart beat.
•spreading across the auricles (atria), depolarizing them
and causing them to contract, so forcing blood into the
ventricles
 Shortly after, the electric signal passes to
the atrio-ventricular node (AV). This will:
•triggering the depolarization of the two ventricles
•forcing blood out of the heart
 Electrocardiogram (ECG)

During each heartbeat,

• electrical stimuli spreads across the heart
• causing potential differences between polarized
and depolarized cells
• These potential differences appear collectively
on the surface of skin as electric voltages that
can be measured by electrodes suitably placed
on the skin.
• They are displayed as specific bioelectric signal
patterns, known as electrocardiogram (ECG).
A typical Electrocardiogram (ECG) pattern

Each beat consists

• The P-wave:
depolarization of
atria, causing them
to contract.
• The QRS-wave:
depolarization and
contraction of the
ventricles.
• The T-wave : re-
polarization of the
ventricles.
Electrocardiogram (ECG)

The ECG is usually recorded on a chart or displayed

on a cathode ray oscilloscope. The wave form
measured at the body‘s surface depends not only on
the individual person but also on the position of the
electrodes. For a typical ECG pattern recorded on the
surface of the body, peak amplitude values are as
follows:
P-wave: 0.2 mV
QRS-complex: 1 mV
T- wave: 0.1 to 0.5 mV
ECG machine
 Electrocardiogram (ECG)
 The shape of the signal depend on the state of
health of heart. ECG gives diagnostic information
about the heart.
 Some common cardiac disorders that can be
diagnosed with an ECG are:
• High pulse rate (tachycardia)
• Low pulse rate (bradycardia)
• Ventricular fibrillation – irregular
contraction of heart muscles
• Damaged heart muscle – wave heights
are reduced
• Heart blockage – part of the trace is
missing
Heart fibrillation

The heart is able to perform its important pumping

function only through precisely synchronized action
of the heart muscles. Under the action potentials, the
two auricles chambers contract and pump blood into
two ventricles. After a delay time, the ventricles are
synchronously activated to pump blood into body and
lungs. If this synchronism is lost, it is called
fibrillation. The condition of fibrillation is observed
on an ECG as a very irregular trace. The fibrillation
of ventricles can lead to death in a very short time.
 The heart defibrillator

To stop fibrillation, two electrodes or paddles are placed on

the skin one on each side of the heart. The potential
difference across the electrodes is about 5000V and the
energy stored in a capacitor of the defibrillator is order of
100J. The effect of the electric shock is to make all the heart
muscles suffer a major contraction. This should then jolt the
heart back to its normal rhythm.
The heart defibrillator : waveforms
The artificial pacemaker
• The pumping action of the heart is controlled by sino-atrial (SA)
and atrio-ventricular (AV) nodes. For a resting adult, the heart
has pulse rate of about 70 per minute. If the AV node become
damaged, the heart does not stop but instead it goes into
automatic control at a pulse rate of 30 per minute. This rate is
sufficient to maintain life, but only if the person is very inactive.
• Artificial pacemakers can provide electrical pulses directly to the
heart and replaces the action of the AV node. The pacemaker is
inserted into the body and the wire is fed through a vein to
appropriate position in the heart.
• The batteries powering the pacemaker last for several years.
Early pacemaker produces pulses at a fixed rate of 70/min.
Modern pacemakers can change their pulse rate, dependent on
the
The artificial pacemaker
Physiological effects of current
• Biological tissue contains free charge so that it is
meaningful to consider it as an electrical conductor.

• The electrical conduction is the dominant factor when

relatively low frequency (lower than 100 kHz) electric
current is applied to the tissue.

• Electric current has three mains effects on the tissue;

• Electrolysis
• neural stimulation
• heating.

• Neural stimulation is potentially the most dangerous effect,

as the nervous system controls the two important systems:
the circulation of blood and respiration.
Physiological effects of current : electrolysis
•Electrolysis will take place when a direct current (dc
current with a frequency below 0.1 Hz) is passed through
tissues.
•The positively charged ions will migrate to the negative
electrode, and the negatively charged ions to the positive
electrode.
•If two electrodes are placed on the skin, and a direct
current of 100 µ A is passed beneath them for a few
minutes, small ulcers will be formed beneath the
electrodes.
•These ulcers take a very long time to heal. 10 µ A is the
limit of safety for such dc current.
Physiological effects of current : Neural stimulation

• At frequencies >10 Hz, electrolysis appears to be

reversible and the dominant effect is neural
stimulation.
• The co-ordinated pumping activity of the heart can be
disrupted by electric currents which pass through the
heart ( fibrillation). This can continue after the current
is removed.
• The major hazards are the stimulation of skeletal and
heart muscle, either directly or by the stimulation of
motor nerves.
• At frequencies >1 kHz, stimulation becomes
increasingly difficult
Neural stimulation:
there are two major ways of stimulation:

• direct stimulation (direct stimulation of the heart,)

• indirect stimulation (stimulation through the skin).

Direct stimulation
The direct passage of current through heart
causes ventricular fibrillation even the amount of
current is as small as 100µ A, which is much
smaller than the threshold current by indirect
stimulation.
Neural stimulation: indirect stimulation
For main commercial
supply frequencies
(50-60 Hz), the threshold
of the sensation is about
1 mA. A 5 mA current is
the maximum harmless
current above which
sensory nerves are
stimulated.
At about 15 mA, the skeletal muscles will be
stimulated to contract continuously, and it will not
be possible to release an object held in the hands
(can’t let go).
Neural stimulation: indirect stimulation (con’t)
• As the current is further raised, it becomes
increasingly painful, and difficult to breathe;
• at about 100 mA ventricular fibrillation begin.
• Currents up to 500 mA will cause ventricular
fibrillation which will continue after the current
stops flowing, and burns will be caused by the
heating of the tissue.
• At currents above 500 mA the heart will restart
spontaneously after the current is removed-this is
the principle of the defibrillator.
Physiological effects of current : Tissue heating

• At frequency above 10 kHz, electrical currents will

not stimulate nerves but they will cause heating
through I2R.
• Radio frequency energy (usually 27 MHz) is
applied between two metal plates so that part of
the energy is absorbed in the tissue, this is known
as diathermy.
• High frequencies between 400 kHz and 30 MHz
are used in surgical diathermia/electrosurgery to
give either coagulation or cutting.
Sample problem
The skin can have a resistance as high as 1 M
Ohm for dry skin and falling to 1k Ohm for wet
skin. Internally the body resistance is about 50 .
For a person with wet skin touching both
terminal of a 240 V voltage source, the current
would gives rise to
I=V/R=240/2050=117mA, which is enough to
cause ventricular fibrillation.
electric equipment safety precautions
• Never overload circuits.
• Check for UL (Underwriter’s Laboratory)
approval.
• Ensure that appliances are grounded.
• Study instructions on use of equipment.
• Disconnect appliances when not in use.
• Inspect all electrical equipment regularly.
• Keep wires, plugs, and equipment in good repair.
• Use one plug per outlet.
• Avoid contact with water or metal when using
electricity.
• Keep cords off floor to avoid tripping.
electric equipment safety precautions
• Never overload circuits.
• Check for UL (Underwriter’s Laboratory)
approval.
• Ensure that appliances are grounded.
• Study instructions on use of equipment.
• Disconnect appliances when not in use.
• Inspect all electrical equipment regularly.
• Keep wires, plugs, and equipment in good repair.
• Use one plug per outlet.
• Avoid contact with water or metal when using
electricity.
• Keep cords off floor to avoid tripping.
Electric safety

• a yellow/green wire connecting to earth :grounding

• a fuse is connected to the brown live wire