Strenuous exercise-tolerance stretchable dry electrodes for continuous multi-channel electrophysiological monitoring

• Published in: Npj flexible electronics 2022-08, Vol.6 (1), p.1-9, Article 75
• Main Authors: Xie, Ruijie, Li, Qingsong, Teng, Lijun, Cao, Zhengshuai, Han, Fei, Tian, Qiong, Sun, Jing, Zhao, Yang, Yu, Mei, Qi, Dianpeng, Guo, Peizhi, Li, Guanglin, Huo, Fengwei, Liu, Zhiyuan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/1647/1453; 639/301/1005; 639/301/923/1028; 639/925/927/511; Acceleration; Biomedical materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Electrocardiography; Electrodes; Electronics and Microelectronics; Instrumentation; Interfaces; Laboratories; Materials Science; Medical electronics; Monitoring; Optical and Electronic Materials; Permeability; Physiology; Polymer Sciences; Prostheses; Skin; Stretchability; Sweating; Van der Waals forces; Viscosity
• ISSN: 2397-4621; 2397-4621
• DOI: 10.1038/s41528-022-00209-0

Electrophysiological monitoring under strenuous exercise by using stretchable dry electrodes is vital for healthcare monitoring, prosthetic control, human−machine interfaces and other biomedical applications. However, the existing dry electrodes are not applicable to the strenuous exercise situation that always involves both fast moving and profuse sweating. Herein, we present a nano-thick porous stretchable dry electrode system with high stretchability and water permeability. The system attaches conformably to the skin and stretches with it under Van der Waals forces even at sweating conditions, allowing the detection of electromyogram when moving with an acceleration of 10 g at a sweating rate of 2.8 mg cm −2  min −1 . It is also capable of acquiring electrocardiogram and electroencephalogram signals. The strategy proposed would enable the biomedical studies and related applications with the requirement of stably recording electrophysiological signals under strenuous exercise scenarios.