Microscopic imaging of electrical current distribution at the electrode-electrolyte interface

A method to directly visualize electrical current distribution at the electrode-electrolyte interface of a biopotential electrode is presented in this paper. A voltage-responsive florescent material is first coated on the surface of a bioelectrode. Then, an electric potential is used to activate the release of the florescent material while a camera acquires images at the electrode-electrolyte interface. This imaging method allows observation of microscopic electrical current distribution at the active area of the electrode, providing a new tool to optimize bioelectrode design. Our computational and experimental data demonstrate the feasibility of the florescent imaging method.