Effect of Pressure and Padding on Motion Artifact of Textile Electrodes

Overview

Journal Biomed Eng Online

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Biomedical Engineering

Date 2013 Apr 10

PMID 23565970

Citations 24

Authors

Alper Comert

Markku Honkala

Jari Hyttinen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: With the aging population and rising healthcare costs, wearable monitoring is gaining importance. The motion artifact affecting dry electrodes is one of the main challenges preventing the widespread use of wearable monitoring systems. In this paper we investigate the motion artifact and ways of making a textile electrode more resilient against motion artifact. Our aim is to study the effects of the pressure exerted onto the electrode, and the effects of inserting padding between the applied pressure and the electrode.

Method: We measure real time electrode-skin interface impedance, ECG from two channels, the motion artifact related surface potential, and exerted pressure during controlled motion by a measurement setup designed to estimate the relation of motion artifact to the signals. We use different foam padding materials with various mechanical properties and apply electrode pressures between 5 and 25 mmHg to understand their effect. A QRS and noise detection algorithm based on a modified Pan-Tompkins QRS detection algorithm estimates the electrode behaviour in respect to the motion artifact from two channels; one dominated by the motion artifact and one containing both the motion artifact and the ECG. This procedure enables us to quantify a given setup's susceptibility to the motion artifact.

Results: Pressure is found to strongly affect signal quality as is the use of padding. In general, the paddings reduce the motion artifact. However the shape and frequency components of the motion artifact vary for different paddings, and their material and physical properties. Electrode impedance at 100 kHz correlates in some cases with the motion artifact but it is not a good predictor of the motion artifact.

Conclusion: From the results of this study, guidelines for improving electrode design regarding padding and pressure can be formulated as paddings are a necessary part of the system for reducing the motion artifact, and further, their effect maximises between 15 mmHg and 20 mmHg of exerted pressure. In addition, we present new methods for evaluating electrode sensitivity to motion, utilizing the detection of noise peaks that fall into the same frequency band as R-peaks.

Citing Articles

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Zhang T, Wang Y, Feng X, Zuo Y, Yu H, Bao H iScience. 2024; 27(9):110707.

PMID: 39262772 PMC: 11387687. DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110707.

Measuring Surface Electromyography with Textile Electrodes in a Smart Leg Sleeve.

Amitrano F, Coccia A, Pagano G, Biancardi A, Tombolini G, Marsico V Sensors (Basel). 2024; 24(9).

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ECG signal quality in intermittent long-term dry electrode recordings with controlled motion artifacts.

Joutsen A, Comert A, Kaappa E, Vanhatalo K, Riistama J, Vehkaoja A Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):8882.

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Tu H, Li X, Lin X, Lang C, Gao Y Polymers (Basel). 2023; 15(18).

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Recent Advances and Challenges in Textile Electrodes for Wearable Biopotential Signal Monitoring: A Comprehensive Review.

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