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Steenbergen N, Busha I, Morgan A, Mattathil C, Levy Pinto A, Spyridakos F, Sokolovskiy I, Tahirbegi B, Chapman C, Cuttaz E, Litvinova K, Goding J, Green R. Surface electromyography using dry polymeric electrodes. APL Bioeng 2023; 7:036115. [PMID: 37705891 PMCID: PMC10497318 DOI: 10.1063/5.0148101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Conventional wet Ag/AgCl electrodes are widely used in electrocardiography, electromyography (EMG), and electroencephalography (EEG) and are considered the gold standard for biopotential measurements. However, these electrodes require substantial skin preparation, are single use, and cannot be used for continuous monitoring (>24 h). For these reasons, dry electrodes are preferable during surface electromyography (sEMG) due to their convenience, durability, and longevity. Dry conductive elastomers (CEs) combine conductivity, flexibility, and stretchability. In this study, CEs combining poly(3,4-ehtylenedioxythiophene):polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) in polyurethane are explored as dry, skin contacting EMG electrodes. This study compares these CE electrodes to commercial wet Ag/AgCl electrodes in five subjects, classifying four movements: open hand, fist, wrist extension, and wrist flexion. Classification accuracy is tested using a backpropagation artificial neural network. The control Ag/AgCl electrodes have a 98.7% classification accuracy, while the dry conductive elastomer electrodes have a classification accuracy of 99.5%. As a conclusion, PEDOT based dry CEs were shown to successfully function as on-skin electrodes for EMG recording, matching the performance of Ag/AgCl electrodes, while addressing the need for minimal skin prep, no gel, and wearable technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Steenbergen
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BP, United Kingdom
| | - Ivan Busha
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BP, United Kingdom
| | - Alexis Morgan
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BP, United Kingdom
| | - Collin Mattathil
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BP, United Kingdom
| | - Arieh Levy Pinto
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BP, United Kingdom
| | - Fotios Spyridakos
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BP, United Kingdom
| | - Ivan Sokolovskiy
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BP, United Kingdom
| | - Bogachan Tahirbegi
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BP, United Kingdom
| | - Christopher Chapman
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BP, United Kingdom
| | - Estelle Cuttaz
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BP, United Kingdom
| | - Karina Litvinova
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BP, United Kingdom
| | - Josef Goding
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BP, United Kingdom
| | - Rylie Green
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BP, United Kingdom
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Chen Y, Yuan X, Li C, Ruan R, You H. Self-Healing and Self-Adhesive Substrate-Free Tattoo Electrode. Materials (Basel) 2023; 16:ma16093499. [PMID: 37176381 PMCID: PMC10180316 DOI: 10.3390/ma16093499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2023] [Revised: 04/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Electronic tattoos have great potential application in the biomedical field; moreover, the substrate-free electronic tattoo offers better comfortability and conformal contact. However, the substrate-free electronic tattoo is more prone to malfunction, including fall off and fracture. In this paper, a self-healing and self-adhesive substate-free tattoo based on PEDOT: PSS is studied and reported. The dry composite electrode will turn into self-healing material while it transforms into hydrogel, and a cut with a width up to 24 μm could be healed in 1 s. In terms of adhesion performance, the substrate-free electrode can hang a 28.2 g weight by a contact area of 8 mm × 8 mm. Additionally, the substate-free electrode could maintain fully conformal contact with porcine skin in 15 days by its self-adhesiveness. When applied as a substrate-free tattoo, the contact impedance and ECG signal measurement performance before and after self-healing are almost the same. At a frequency of 10 Hz, the contact impedance of the undamaged electrode, healed electrode, and Ag/AgCl gel electrode are 32.2 kΩ, 39.2 kΩ, and 62.9 kΩ, respectively. In addition, the ECG signals measured by the undamaged electrode and healed electrode are comparable to that of Ag/AgCl electrode. The self-healing and self-adhesive substrate-free tattoo electrode reported here has broad application in health monitoring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanfen Chen
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
- Center on Nanoenergy Research, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
| | - Xiaoming Yuan
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
| | - Chunlin Li
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
| | - Ruicheng Ruan
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
- Center on Nanoenergy Research, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
| | - Hui You
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
- Center on Nanoenergy Research, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
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