Development and Characterization of Embroidery-Based Textile Electrodes for Surface EMG Detection

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Textile Science
• Wearable Technology

Background:

• Traditional gel electrodes for surface electromyography (sEMG) cause skin irritation and have poor adhesion with moisture.
• The growing demand for IoT-based mobile healthcare necessitates advanced wearable sensing solutions.
• Dry electrodes, particularly textile-based ones, are emerging as a promising alternative for comfortable, long-term bio-signal monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate embroidered textile-based electrodes for smart clothing applications.
• To compare the morphological stability and sEMG signal detection performance of different electrode designs (circle vs. wave).
• To assess the impact of embroidered conductive yarn area on skin-electrode impedance.

Main Methods:

• Textile-based electrodes were manufactured using conductive yarn embroidery in various shapes (circle, wave) on clothing.
• Morphological stability was tested under strain (up to 30%).
• Skin-electrode impedance was analyzed, and sEMG signals were recorded from the rectus femoris muscle.

Main Results:

• Wave-type electrodes demonstrated superior morphological stability compared to circle-type electrodes.
• Increased embroidered conductive yarn area led to decreased skin-electrode impedance.
• Wave-type and three-line embroidered electrodes exhibited higher sEMG signal strength and better performance than circle-type and fill-type electrodes, respectively.
• High-quality, low-noise sEMG signals were detected, even with commercial devices.

Conclusions:

• Embroidered textile electrodes are a viable alternative to traditional gel electrodes for wearable healthcare.
• Wave-type electrode designs offer enhanced stability and signal quality for sEMG applications.
• This technology holds significant potential for the future development of electromyography smart clothing for fitness and health monitoring.