A flexible and conformable dry electrode design on nonwoven fabrics is examined as a sensing platform for biopotential measurements. Due to limitations of commercial wet electrodes (e.g., shelf life, skin irritation), dry electrodes are investigated as the potential candidates for long-term monitoring of ECG signals. Multilayered dry electrodes are fabricated by screen printing of Ag/AgCl conductive inks on flexible nonwoven fabrics. This study focuses on the investigation of skin-electrode interface, form factor design, electrode body placement of printed dry electrodes for a wearable sensing platform. ECG signals obtained with dry and wet electrodes are comparatively studied as a function of body posture and movement. Experimental results show that skin-electrode impedance is influenced by printed electrode area, skin-electrode interface material, and applied pressure. The printed electrode yields comparable ECG signals to wet electrodes, and the QRS peak amplitude of ECG signal is dependent on printed electrode area and electrode on body spacing. Overall, fabric-based printed dry electrodes present an inexpensive health monitoring platform solution for mobile wearable electronics applications by fulfilling user comfort and wearability.
Wearable and wireless monitoring of biomarkers such as lactate in sweat can provide a deeper understanding of a subject's metabolic stressors, cardiovascular health, and physiological response to exercise. However, the state-of-the-art wearable and wireless electrochemical systems rely on active sweat released either via high-exertion exercise, electrical stimulation (such as iontophoresis requiring electrical power), or chemical stimulation (such as by delivering pilocarpine or carbachol inside skin), to extract sweat under lowperspiring conditions such as at rest. Here, we present a continuous sweat lactate monitoring platform combining a hydrogel for osmotic sweat extraction, with a paper microfluidic channel for facilitating sweat transport and management, a screen-printed electrochemical lactate sensor, and a custom-built wireless wearable potentiostat system. Osmosis enables zeroelectrical power sweat extraction at rest, while continuous evaporation at the end of a paper channel allows long-term sensing from fresh sweat. The positioning of the lactate sensors provides near-instantaneous sensing at low sweat volume, and the custom-designed potentiostat supports continuous monitoring with ultra-low power consumption. For a proof of concept, the prototype system was evaluated for continuous measurement of sweat lactate across a range of physiological activities with changing lactate concentrations and sweat rates: for 2 h at the resting state, 1 h during mediumintensity exercise, and 30 min during high-intensity exercise. Overall, this wearable system holds the potential of providing comprehensive and long-term continuous analysis of sweat lactate trends in the human body during rest and under exercising conditions.
Quantifying and regulating oxygen in a microphysiological models can be achievedviaan array of technologies, and is an essential component of recapitulating tissue-specific microenvironments.
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