Ambulatory Evaluation of ECG Signals Obtained Using Washable Textile-Based Electrodes Made with Chemically Modified...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science: Development of novel conductive polymer-based textile electrodes.
• Biomedical Engineering: Application of textile electrodes for physiological signal monitoring.

Background:

• Traditional Ag/AgCl electrodes are disposable and costly for continuous patient monitoring.
• Washable and reusable electrodes are needed to improve medical assessment and patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of PEDOT:PSS physical properties on ECG signal quality of textile electrodes.
• To evaluate electrode performance after repeated washing cycles in a domestic laundry machine.

Main Methods:

• Comparison of two PEDOT:PSS solutions with varying viscosity and surface tension.
• Wetting tests (surface tension, contact angle) and absorption measurements on polyamide textile fabrics.
• ECG signal quality assessment (SNR, spectral power density) before and after 50 washing cycles.
• Material characterization using SEM and CIELAB color space analysis.

Main Results:

• PEDOT:PSS surface tension significantly affects textile wettability and absorption.
• Electrodes made with lower viscosity PEDOT:PSS showed a strong decrease in SNR after washing.
• SEM images and color analysis confirmed material degradation in low viscosity samples.
• All recorded ECG signals remained diagnostically acceptable after 50 washes.

Conclusions:

• Washable PEDOT:PSS polyamide textile electrodes are suitable for long-term ECG monitoring.
• PEDOT:PSS solution viscosity is critical for maintaining electrode performance after washing.
• Optimizing PEDOT:PSS formulation can lead to faster and cheaper electrode manufacturing.