Publicação
Structural and electrical characterization of dry electrodes for electrical stimulation
| Resumo: | Wearables aimed at rehabilitation with signal monitoring and muscle stimulation support systems represent a great advancement toward an increase in the quality of health care. Common monitoring and stimulation usually use wet electrodes, but these have the problem of the gel dehydrating over time worsening the conductivity, then requiring the electrodes to be changed or verified frequently, increasing the workload of the professionals of the area. Other factors that increase the burden on them are the preparation, position, and connection of the electrodes since this usually requires specialized knowledge. To solve this issue, dry electrodes were developed and tested regarding endurance, signal acquisition quality, and electrical stimulation capabilities. The combinations of three substrates options, five different thin films, and three sizes were tested. Different connection methods were tested to enable the use of the electrodes with commercial standard connectors. Therefore, the goal of this work was to characterize the electrodes regarding signal acquisition quality, electrical stimulation, structural endurance, and connection stability. The electrodes were tested both in simulated environments as well as in vivo to better understand the influence of the body on them. The results show that with the current configuration, TiNCu0.45 in Polylactici Acid (PLA), employing snap button connector is the best choice although still requires some structural improvements to keep the conductivity. Polyurethane (PU) and Cellulose were discarded due to their mechanical properties. The other thin films presented high susceptibility towards corrosion, which greatly degraded conductivity. |
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| Autores principais: | Conselheiro, Raul |
| Assunto: | Dry electrodes sEMG Functional electrical stimulation Polymer electrodes |
| Ano: | 2022 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | dissertação de mestrado |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Instituto Politécnico de Bragança |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Biblioteca Digital do IPB |
| Resumo: | Wearables aimed at rehabilitation with signal monitoring and muscle stimulation support systems represent a great advancement toward an increase in the quality of health care. Common monitoring and stimulation usually use wet electrodes, but these have the problem of the gel dehydrating over time worsening the conductivity, then requiring the electrodes to be changed or verified frequently, increasing the workload of the professionals of the area. Other factors that increase the burden on them are the preparation, position, and connection of the electrodes since this usually requires specialized knowledge. To solve this issue, dry electrodes were developed and tested regarding endurance, signal acquisition quality, and electrical stimulation capabilities. The combinations of three substrates options, five different thin films, and three sizes were tested. Different connection methods were tested to enable the use of the electrodes with commercial standard connectors. Therefore, the goal of this work was to characterize the electrodes regarding signal acquisition quality, electrical stimulation, structural endurance, and connection stability. The electrodes were tested both in simulated environments as well as in vivo to better understand the influence of the body on them. The results show that with the current configuration, TiNCu0.45 in Polylactici Acid (PLA), employing snap button connector is the best choice although still requires some structural improvements to keep the conductivity. Polyurethane (PU) and Cellulose were discarded due to their mechanical properties. The other thin films presented high susceptibility towards corrosion, which greatly degraded conductivity. |
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