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Guo J, Wang X, Bai R, Zhang Z, Chen H, Xue K, Ma C, Zang D, Yin E, Gao K, Ji B. A Cost-Effective and Easy-to-Fabricate Conductive Velcro Dry Electrode for Durable and High-Performance Biopotential Acquisition. BIOSENSORS 2024; 14:432. [PMID: 39329808 PMCID: PMC11430566 DOI: 10.3390/bios14090432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2024] [Revised: 09/02/2024] [Accepted: 09/04/2024] [Indexed: 09/28/2024]
Abstract
Compared with the traditional gel electrode, the dry electrode is being taken more seriously in bioelectrical recording because of its easy preparation, long-lasting ability, and reusability. However, the commonly used dry AgCl electrodes and silver cloth electrodes are generally hard to record through hair due to their flat contact surface. Claw electrodes can contact skin through hair on the head and body, but the internal claw structure is relatively hard and causes discomfort after being worn for a few hours. Here, we report a conductive Velcro electrode (CVE) with an elastic hook hair structure, which can collect biopotential through body hair. The elastic hooks greatly reduce discomfort after long-time wearing and can even be worn all day. The CVE electrode is fabricated by one-step immersion in conductive silver paste based on the cost-effective commercial Velcro, forming a uniform and durable conductive coating on a cluster of hook microstructures. The electrode shows excellent properties, including low impedance (15.88 kΩ @ 10 Hz), high signal-to-noise ratio (16.0 dB), strong water resistance, and mechanical resistance. After washing in laundry detergent, the impedance of CVE is still 16% lower than the commercial AgCl electrodes. To verify the mechanical strength and recovery capability, we conducted cyclic compression experiments. The results show that the displacement change of the electrode hook hair after 50 compression cycles was still less than 1%. This electrode provides a universal acquisition scheme, including effective acquisition of different parts of the body with or without hair. Finally, the gesture recognition from electromyography (EMG) by the CVE electrode was applied with accuracy above 90%. The CVE proposed in this study has great potential and promise in various human-machine interface (HMI) applications that employ surface biopotential signals on the body or head with hair.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Guo
- Unmanned System Research Institute, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
- National Key Laboratory of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology, Integrated Research and Development Platform of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Micro and Nano Systems for Aerospace, School of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
| | - Xuanqi Wang
- Unmanned System Research Institute, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
- National Key Laboratory of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology, Integrated Research and Development Platform of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Micro and Nano Systems for Aerospace, School of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
| | - Ruiyu Bai
- Unmanned System Research Institute, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
- National Key Laboratory of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology, Integrated Research and Development Platform of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Micro and Nano Systems for Aerospace, School of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
| | - Zimo Zhang
- Unmanned System Research Institute, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
- National Key Laboratory of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology, Integrated Research and Development Platform of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Micro and Nano Systems for Aerospace, School of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
| | - Huazhen Chen
- Unmanned System Research Institute, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
- National Key Laboratory of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology, Integrated Research and Development Platform of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Micro and Nano Systems for Aerospace, School of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
| | - Kai Xue
- Unmanned System Research Institute, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
- National Key Laboratory of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology, Integrated Research and Development Platform of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Micro and Nano Systems for Aerospace, School of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
| | - Chuang Ma
- Defense Innovation Institute, Academy of Military Sciences (AMS), Beijing 100071, China
- Intelligent Game and Decision Laboratory, Beijing 100071, China
- Tianjin Artificial Intelligence Innovation Center (TAIIC), Tianjin 300450, China
| | - Dawei Zang
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100070, China
| | - Erwei Yin
- Defense Innovation Institute, Academy of Military Sciences (AMS), Beijing 100071, China
- Intelligent Game and Decision Laboratory, Beijing 100071, China
- Tianjin Artificial Intelligence Innovation Center (TAIIC), Tianjin 300450, China
| | - Kunpeng Gao
- College of Information Science and Technology, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China
| | - Bowen Ji
- Unmanned System Research Institute, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
- National Key Laboratory of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology, Integrated Research and Development Platform of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Micro and Nano Systems for Aerospace, School of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
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Omidian H, Chowdhury SD. High-Performing Conductive Hydrogels for Wearable Applications. Gels 2023; 9:549. [PMID: 37504428 PMCID: PMC10379850 DOI: 10.3390/gels9070549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2023] [Revised: 07/04/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Conductive hydrogels have gained significant attention for their extensive applications in healthcare monitoring, wearable sensors, electronic devices, soft robotics, energy storage, and human-machine interfaces. To address the limitations of conductive hydrogels, researchers are focused on enhancing properties such as sensitivity, mechanical strength, electrical performance at low temperatures, stability, antibacterial properties, and conductivity. Composite materials, including nanoparticles, nanowires, polymers, and ionic liquids, are incorporated to improve the conductivity and mechanical strength. Biocompatibility and biosafety are emphasized for safe integration with biological tissues. Conductive hydrogels exhibit unique properties such as stretchability, self-healing, wet adhesion, anti-freezing, transparency, UV-shielding, and adjustable mechanical properties, making them suitable for specific applications. Researchers aim to develop multifunctional hydrogels with antibacterial characteristics, self-healing capabilities, transparency, UV-shielding, gas-sensing, and strain-sensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hossein Omidian
- Barry and Judy Silverman College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33328, USA
| | - Sumana Dey Chowdhury
- Barry and Judy Silverman College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33328, USA
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Khan SR, Wang X, Jiang T, Ju W, Radacsi N, Kadir MA, Rabbani KSE, Cunningham S, Mitra S. Multi-Modal Portable Respiratory Rate Monitoring Device for Childhood Pneumonia Detection. MICROMACHINES 2023; 14:708. [PMID: 37420941 PMCID: PMC10144858 DOI: 10.3390/mi14040708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2023] [Revised: 02/26/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/09/2023]
Abstract
Accurate assessment of Respiratory Rate (RR) is the most important mechanism in detecting pneumonia in low-resource settings. Pneumonia is a disease with one of the highest mortality rates among young children under five. However, the diagnosis of pneumonia for infants remains challenging, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). In such situations, RR is most often measured manually with visual inspection. Accurate RR measurement requires the child to remain calm without any stress for a few minutes. The difficulty in achieving this with a sick child in a clinical environment can result in errors and misdiagnosis, even more so when the child is crying and non-cooperating around unfamiliar adults. Therefore, we propose an automated novel RR monitoring device built with textile glove and dry electrodes which can make use of the relaxed posture when the child is resting on the carer's lap. This portable system is non-invasive and made with affordable instrumentation integrated on customized textile glove. The glove has multi-modal automated RR detection mechanism that simultaneously uses bio-impedance and accelerometer data. This novel textile glove with dry electrodes can easily be worn by a parent/carer and is washable. The real-time display on a mobile app shows the raw data and the RR value, allowing a healthcare professional to monitor the results from afar. The prototype device has been tested on 10 volunteers with age variation of 3 years to 33 years, including male and female. The maximum variation of measured RR with the proposed system is ±2 compared to the traditional manual counting method. It does not create any discomfort for either the child or the carer and can be used up to 60 to 70 sessions/day before recharging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sadeque Reza Khan
- School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Institute of Sensors, Signals and Systems, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK
| | - Xiaohan Wang
- School of Engineering, Institute of Integrated Micro and Nano Systems, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FF, UK
| | - Tiantao Jiang
- School of Engineering, Institute of Integrated Micro and Nano Systems, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FF, UK
| | - Wei Ju
- School of Engineering, Institute of Integrated Micro and Nano Systems, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FF, UK
| | - Norbert Radacsi
- School of Engineering, Institute for Materials and Processes, The University of Edinburgh, Robert Stevenson Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FB, UK
| | - Muhammad Abdul Kadir
- Department of Biomedical Physics and Technology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
| | | | - Steve Cunningham
- Centre for Inflammation Research, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FF, UK
| | - Srinjoy Mitra
- School of Engineering, Institute of Integrated Micro and Nano Systems, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FF, UK
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Guo J, Guo C, Zhou J, Duan K, Wang Q. Flexible Capacitive Sensing and Ultrasound Calibration for Skeletal Muscle Deformations. Soft Robot 2022. [DOI: 10.1089/soro.2022.0065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Jiajie Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Chuxuan Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Jialei Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Kui Duan
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology, School Hospital, Wuhan, China
| | - Qining Wang
- Department of Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China
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Lu H, Zada S, Yang L, Dong H. Microneedle-Based Device for Biological Analysis. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2022; 10:851134. [PMID: 35528208 PMCID: PMC9068878 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.851134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2022] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The collection and analysis of biological samples are an effective means of disease diagnosis and treatment. Blood sampling is a traditional approach in biological analysis. However, the blood sampling approach inevitably relies on invasive techniques and is usually performed by a professional. The microneedle (MN)-based devices have gained increasing attention due to their noninvasive manner compared to the traditional blood-based analysis method. In the present review, we introduce the materials for fabrication of MNs. We categorize MN-based devices based on four classes: MNs for transdermal sampling, biomarker capture, detecting or monitoring analytes, and bio-signal recording. Their design strategies and corresponding application are highlighted and discussed in detail. Finally, future perspectives of MN-based devices are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huiting Lu
- Department of Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing, China
| | - Shah Zada
- Marshall Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering Research Center for Biosensor and Nanotheranostic, School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Lingzhi Yang
- Marshall Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering Research Center for Biosensor and Nanotheranostic, School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Haifeng Dong
- Department of Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing, China
- Marshall Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering Research Center for Biosensor and Nanotheranostic, School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
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Wang X, Tian Q, Pi Y, Xu Y, Zhu M, Wang X, Wang C, Wang C, Chen S, Liu Z, Li G. A Pilot Study on Long-term Physiological Signal Monitoring using Anhydrous Viscoplastic Electrodes. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2021; 2021:6767-6770. [PMID: 34892661 DOI: 10.1109/embc46164.2021.9630730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Electrocardiography (ECG) and Electromyogram (EMG) are widely used to help physicians to diagnose various diseases. Besides, long-term physiological signals monitoring is of great significance for circumstances where certain diseases may not be observed in short-term monitoring. At present, wet electrodes are widely used in the clinic and are considered as a standard method to acquire physiological signals in high fidelity. However, current wet electrodes achieve high-quality signal acquisition by using conductive gel which will dry up as time elapses and finally leads to degradation of the signal quality. Therefore, an anhydrous viscoplastic electrode was proposed in this paper to solve the abovementioned problem. The proposed electrode, which is anhydrous and viscoplastic, enables high quality physiological signal acquisition with firm contact with the skin and it will not dry up within a long period of time. The results showed that the impedance of the proposed viscoplastic electrode could maintain relative stability after two days while that of the gel electrodes would increase significantly due to the gel dried up. Besides, the proposed electrode obtained physiological signals with high quality in both ECG and EMG tasks. After 24 hours of monitoring, the signal quality of the proposed electrode remained unchanged, indicated by the clearly recognizable time-domain signals. However, the signal waveform completely submerged in noise after the gel dried up. Moreover, the superior performance of the viscoplastic electrodes could be confirmed by the SNR difference between the two days, SNR further confirmed the superiority of the, with -2.03±2.10 dB and -3.40±8.27 dB for ECG and EMG respectively, and the SNR difference of gel electrodes were -7.59 ± 5.70 dB and -35.39±15.71 dB respectively. The proposed electrodes could be a great candidate for long-term physiological signal monitoring in risk management of healthcare.Clinical Relevance- The proposed electrode could achieve long-term physiological signals monitoring with high quality.
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