This paper reports the measurement of the properties of dry or pasteless conductive electrodes to be used for long-term recording of the human electrocardiogram (ECG). Knowledge of these properties is essential for the correct design of the input stage of associated recording amplifiers. Measurements were made on three commercially available conductive carbon based electrodes at pressures of 5 mmHg and 20 mmHg, located on the lower abdomen of the body on three subjects having different skin types. Parameter values were fitted to a two-time-constant based model of the electrode using data measured over a period of 10s. Values of resistance, ranging from 40kOmega to 1590kOmega and of capacitance ranging from 0.05 microF to 38 microF were obtained for the components, while the values of the time-constants varied from 0.07 s to 3.9s.

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This paper presents a novel approach for designing the front-end of instrumentation amplifiers for use in dry electrode recording of the human electrocardiogram (ECG). The method relies on information provided by the characterization of the skin-electrode interface and the analysis of low frequency ECG criteria defined by international standards. Marginal measurements of capacitive elements of the skin-electrode interface as small as 0.01 microF, suggest values of input impedance in the order of 1.3 GOmega. However, results in 99% of the data analyzed indicate that a recording amplifier providing an input impedance of 500 MOmega should ensure clear signal sensing without distortion.