Electrical performance of PEDOT:PSS-based textile electrodes for wearable ECG monitoring: a comparative study

Abstract

BackgroundWearable textile electrodes for the detection of biopotentials are a promising tool for the monitoring and early diagnosis of chronic diseases. We present a comparative study of the electrical characteristics of four textile electrodes manufactured from common fabrics treated with a conductive polymer, a commercial fabric, and disposable Ag/AgCl electrodes. These characteristics will allow identifying the performance of the materials when used as ECG electrodes. The electrodes were subjected to different electrical tests, and complemented with conductivity calculations and microscopic images to determine their feasibility in the detection of ECG signals.MethodsWe evaluated four electrical characteristics: contact impedance, electrode polarization, noise, and long-term performance. We analyzed PEDOT:PSS treated fabrics based on cotton, cotton–polyester, lycra and polyester; also a commercial fabric made of silver-plated nylon Shielde® Med-Tex P130, and commercial Ag/AgCl electrodes. We calculated conductivity from the surface resistance and, analyzed their surface at a microscopic level. Rwizard was used in the statistical analysis.ResultsThe results showed that textile electrodes treated with PEDOT:PSS are suitable for the detection of ECG signals. The error detecting features of the ECG signal was lower than 2% and the electrodes kept working properly after 36 h of continuous use. Even though the contact impedance and the polarization level in textile electrodes were greater than in commercial electrodes, these parameters did not affect the acquisition of the ECG signals. Fabrics conductivity calculations were consistent to the contact impedance.

Integration of Conductive Materials with Textile Structures, an Overview

“…Among the conductive polymers, polypyrrole (PPy), polyaniline (PANI) and polythiophene derivative poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) are the most successful in the production of conductive textile [77]. The conductivity of the polymers can be enhanced by adding organic solvents called dopants, for instance, the conductivity of PEDOT:PSS can be enhanced from one to three orders of magnitude by adding polar organic solvents like ethylene glycol, dimethyl sulfoxide, glycerol [78][79][80][81]. Therefore, these conductive polymers can be used to develop all building blocks of the smart textile system as a wide range of electrical properties could be achieved by playing with the polymer add-on, and the extent of dopant.…”

Flexible Cellulose-Based Assembled with PEDOT: PSS Electrodes for ECG Monitoring

“…However, the conductive gel will cause allergic and other symptoms of the skin. Moreover, the gel will become dry in a short time, leading to the increase of noise and artifacts of the obtained electrical signals (Castrillón et al 2018). Dry electrodes don't need conductive gel (Puurtinen et al 2006), but need to be rmly xed on the skin with medical tape, which will also incur the uncomfortable feeling of the patients (Obukhov et al 2012).…”

Stretchable Composite Acoustic Transducer for Wearable Monitoring of Vital Signs

“…Materials with low compliance do not conform to the curvature of the body; therefore, this produces poor-quality or faulty data, the devices are less comfortable and may require additional materials (such as conductive gels) for the measurement. [ 19 ] There are also remote methods of measuring HR, [ 20 ] such as ballistocardiography and seismocardiography, and breathing, [ 21 ] e.g., radio-frequency respiration monitoring, which provide unobtrusive collection of data but they fail to function when subjects move, due to motion artefacts.…”