Measurement of Noise and Impedance of Dry and Wet Textile Electrodes, and Textile Electrodes with Hydrogel

Textile sensors, when embedded into clothing, can provide new ways of monitoring physiological signals, and improve the usability and comfort of such monitoring systems in the areas of medical, occupational health and sports. However, good electrical and mechanical contact between the electrode and the skin is very important, as it often determines the quality of the signal. This paper introduces a study where the properties of dry textile electrodes, textile electrodes moistened with water, and textile electrodes covered with hydrogel were studied with five different electrode sizes. The aim was to study how the electrode size and preparation of the electrode (dry electrode/wet electrode/electrode covered with hydrogel membrane) affect the measurement noise, and the skin-electrode impedance. The measurement noise and skin-electrode impedance were determined from surface biopotential measurements. These preliminary results indicate that noise level increases as the electrode size decreases. The noise level is high in dry textile electrodes, as expected. Yet, the noise level of wet textile electrodes is quite low and similar to that of textile electrodes covered with hydrogel. Hydrogel does not seem to improve noise properties, however it may have effects on movement artifacts. Thus, it is feasible to use textile embedded sensors in physiological monitoring applications when moistening or hydrogel is applied.