Low-Contact Impedance Textile Electrode for Real-Time Detection of ECG Signals

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Biomedical Engineering
• Textile Engineering

Background:

• Electrocardiography (ECG) signal quality is critically dependent on the electrode-skin interface.
• Current electrocardiogram electrodes (ECGE) suffer from high contact impedance and unstable conductive networks, limiting their use during movement and long-term wear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel bionic 3D pile textile electrode for enhanced ECG signal acquisition.
• To address the limitations of conventional ECGEs, focusing on improved conductivity, flexibility, and stability.

Main Methods:

• A facile, continuous, and high-efficiency electrostatic self-assembly process was employed to create a bionic 3D pile textile.
• Conductive materials were integrated into the pile textile to form a full textile electrode for bioelectrical signal detection.

Main Results:

• The developed pile textile ECGE (PT-ECGE) exhibits high electrical conductivity and superior flexibility.
• The dense pile structure ensures full skin contact, effectively mitigating motion artifacts and maintaining signal integrity under static and dynamic conditions.
• The PT-ECGE demonstrates low contact impedance, high adaptivity, washability, and durability.

Conclusions:

• The bionic 3D pile textile electrode is a promising candidate for wearable devices, offering comfortable and unconscious physiological signal detection.
• This novel textile electrode significantly improves upon conventional ECGEs, enabling reliable ECG monitoring in various conditions.