Surface electromyography using dry polymeric electrodes

Conventional wet Ag/AgCl electrodes are widely used in electrocardiography, electromyography (EMG), and electroencephalography (EEG) and are considered the gold standard for biopotential measurements. However, these electrodes require substantial skin preparation, are single use, and cannot be used for continuous monitoring (>24 h). For these reasons, dry electrodes are preferable during surface electromyography (sEMG) due to their convenience, durability, and longevity. Dry conductive elastomers (CEs) combine conductivity, flexibility, and stretchability. In this study, CEs combining poly(3,4-ehtylenedioxythiophene):polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) in polyurethane are explored as dry, skin contacting EMG electrodes. This study compares these CE electrodes to commercial wet Ag/AgCl electrodes in five subjects, classifying four movements: open hand, fist, wrist extension, and wrist flexion. Classification accuracy is tested using a backpropagation artificial neural network. The control Ag/AgCl electrodes have a 98.7% classification accuracy, while the dry conductive elastomer electrodes have a classification accuracy of 99.5%. As a conclusion, PEDOT based dry CEs were shown to successfully function as on-skin electrodes for EMG recording, matching the performance of Ag/AgCl electrodes, while addressing the need for minimal skin prep, no gel, and wearable technology.

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