CNT/PDMS composite flexible dry electrodesfor long-term ECG monitoring

Ha Chul Jung, Jin Hee Moon, Dong Hyun Baek, Jae Hee Lee, Yoon Young Choi, Joung Sook Hong, Sang Hoon Lee

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    385 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We fabricated a carbon nanotube (CNT)/ polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite-based dry ECG electrode that can be readily connected to conventional ECG devices, and showed its long-term wearable monitoring capability and robustness to motion and sweat. While the dispersion of CNTs in PDMS is challenging, we optimized the process to disperse untreated CNTs within PDMS by mechanical force only. The electrical and mechanical characteristics of the CNT/PDMS electrode were tested according to the concentration of CNTs and its thickness. The performances of ECG electrodes were evaluated by using 36 types of electrodes which were fabricated with different concentrations of CNTs, and with a differing diameter and thickness. The ECG signals were obtained by using electrodes of diverse sizes to observe the effects of motion and sweat, and the proposed electrode was shown to be robust to both factors. The CNT concentration and diameter of the electrodes were critical parameters in obtaining high-quality ECG signals. The electrode was shown to be biocompatible from the cytotoxicity test. A seven-day continuous wearability test showed that the quality of the ECG signal did not degrade over time, and skin reactions such as itching or erythema were not observed. This electrode could be used for the long-term measurement of other electrical biosignals for ubiquitous health monitoring including EMG, EEG, and ERG.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number6165654
    Pages (from-to)1472-1479
    Number of pages8
    JournalIEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering
    Volume59
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2012 May

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    Manuscript received July 11, 2011; revised November 4, 2011 and February 6, 2012; accepted February 18, 2012. Date of publication March 7, 2012; date of current version April 20, 2012. This work was supported by the Korea Healthcare Technology R&D Project, Ministry for Health, Welfare & Family Affairs, Korea, under Grant A092052, the Public Welfare & Safety Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology under Grant 20110020943, and the Strategic Technology Development Program of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy under Grant 10031779. H.-C. Jung and J.-H. Moon contributed equally to this work. Asterisk indicates co-corresponding authors.

    Keywords

    • Biocompatible
    • ECG electrode
    • carbon nanotube (CNT)/ polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite electrode
    • long-term monitoring

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Biomedical Engineering

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