3D‐Knit Dry Electrodes using Conductive Elastomeric Fibers for Long‐Term Continuous Electrophysiological Monitoring

Abstract

Recent advances in telemedicine and personalized healthcare have motivated new developments in wearable technologies targeting continuous monitoring of biosignals. Common limitations of wearables for continuous monitoring include durability and breathability of their biopotential electrodes. This paper tackles this challenge by proposing flexible, breathable, and washable dry textile electrodes made of conductive elastomeric filaments (CEFs). First, candidate CEF fibers are characterized. Using an industrial knitting machine, CEF fibers are then directly knitted into textile electrodes. To assess their performance in more realistic circumstances, smart garments with textile electrodes are knitted. Electrocardiograms (ECGs) are acquired using an underwear garment and electrooculograms (EOGs) are acquired using a headband. ECGs and EOGs with textile electrodes are found to have comparable fidelity to that of the gold standard gel electrodes. CEF electrodes are also resistant to repeated wash and dry cycles (30×) and continue to acquire high-fidelity biosignals. Smart underwear garments are also used to perform continuous ECG measurements in five participants over 24 h of unrestricted daily activities. Results demonstrate the success of these garments in performing high fidelity continuous ECG monitoring. Collectively, these results present CEF electrodes as a promising scalable solution to the challenges of wearable technologies for long-term continuous electrophysiological monitoring applications.