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In This Article

  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Protocol
  • Representative Results
  • Discussion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Materials
  • References
  • Reprints and Permissions

Summary

Two recent technologies-tattoo and textiles-have demonstrated promising results in cutaneous sensing. Here, we present the fabrication and evaluation methods of tattoo and textile electrodes for cutaneous electrophysiological sensing. These electronic interfaces made of conductive polymers outperform the existing standards in terms of comfort and sensitivity.

Abstract

Wearable electronic devices are becoming key players in monitoring the body signals predominantly altered during physical activity tracking. Considering the growing interest in telemedicine and personalized care driven by the rise of the Internet of Things era, wearable sensors have expanded their field of application into healthcare. To ensure the collection of clinically relevant data, these devices need to establish conformable interfaces with the human body to provide high-signal-quality recordings and long-term operation. To this end, this paper presents a method to easily fabricate conformable thin tattoo- and soft textile-based sensors for their application as wearable organic electronic devices in a broad spectrum of surface electrophysiological recordings.

The sensors are developed through a cost-effective and scalable process of cutaneous electrode patterning using poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), the most popular conductive polymer in bioelectronics, on off-the-shelf, wearable substrates. This paper presents key steps in electrode characterization through impedance spectroscopy to investigate their performance in signal transduction when coupled with the skin. Comparative studies are required to position the performance of novel sensors with respect to the clinical gold standard. To validate the fabricated sensors' performance, this protocol shows how to perform various biosignal recordings from different configurations through a user-friendly and portable electronic setup in a laboratory environment. This methods paper will allow multiple experimental initiatives to advance the current state of the art in wearable sensors for human body health monitoring.

Introduction

Noninvasive biopotential recording is performed through skin-contact electrodes, providing a vast amount of data on the physiological status of the human body in fitness and healthcare1. Novel types of wearable biomonitoring devices have been developed from the latest technological advances in electronics through the downscaling of integrated controlling and communicating components to portable dimensions. Smart monitoring devices pervade the market daily, offering multiple monitoring capabilities with the ultimate goal of providing sufficient physiological content to enable medical diagnostics2. Therefore, safe, reliabl....

Protocol

NOTE: Experiments involving human subjects did not involve the collection of identifiable private information related to the individual's health status and are only used here for technological demonstration. Data were averaged over three different subjects. The electrophysiological recordings were extracted from previously published data6,21.

1. Inkjet-printed PEDOT:PSS electrode fabrication

Representative Results

This paper shows the fabrication of comfortable skin-contact electrodes by inkjet printing and a method to characterize them and perform electrophysiology recordings. We reported the fabrication steps of PEDOT:PSS inkjet printing directly on different substrates, such as fabric (Figure 1A), PEN (Figure 1B), and tattoo paper (Figure 1C,D) for reference. The proposed designs in protocol step 1.2.1. and step 1.3.1.5. d.......

Discussion

This paper describes an easy and scalable process to fabricate wearable electrodes and demonstrates a method for recording electrophysiological biosignals. It uses three examples of wearable substrates, such as tattoo, textile, and thin films. It introduces how to build a sensor on these substrates and characterize its performance prior to its application. To make the electrodes here, we employed PEDOT:PSS, a conductive polymer that stands out from metal-based conductors due to its cost-effectiveness, versatile processab.......

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the French National Research Agency through the ANR JCJC OrgTex project (ANR-17-CE19-0010). It has also received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 813863. E.I. wishes to thank the CMP cleanroom staff at the Centre Microelectronics in Provence for their technical support during the development of the project.

....

Materials

NameCompanyCatalog NumberComments
Biosignalplux - Plux wireless device for electrophysiological recordingsPLUX Wireless Biosignals S.AEEG, ECG, EMG, EDA sensors
Covidien Kendal Disposable electrodes, medical grade disposable electrodes (Pregelled, 24 mm)Covidien / Kendal (formally Tyco) ARBO electrodesH124SGCommercial Ag/AgCl electrodes for electrophysiology
Dimatix inkjet printerFujifilmDMP 2800Inkjet printer
Laser CutterUniversal Laser SystemsVLS 3.50, 50 WLaser cutter to cut the glue sheet for tattoo electrodes fabrication
NOVAMetrohm AutolabNOVA 2.1Electrochemistry software to control Autolab instruments
OpenSignals2020 PLUX wireless biosignals, S.A.Software suite for real-time biosignals visualisation, capable of direct interaction with PLUX devices
PEDOT:PSS inkjet printable inkHeraeus Deutschland GmbH & Co. KGCLEVIOS Pjet 700
Polyethylene naphthalene (PEN) foil Goodfellowthickness 1.3 μmUsed for tattoo electrodes interconnection fabrication
Polyimide tape3MKapton tape by 3 M, thickness 50 μmUsed for tattoo electrodes interconnection fabrication
PotentiostatMetrohm AutolabAutolab potentiostat B.V.Used for EIS measurements
Silhouette temporary tattoo paper kitSilhouette Americ, Inc, USSubstrate for tattoo-based electrodes
Wowen textile 100% cotton and commercially available pantyhoseSubstrate for textile-based electrodes

References

  1. Kim, J., et al. Noninvasive alcohol monitoring using a wearable tattoo-based iontophoretic-biosensing system. ACS Sensors. 1 (8), 1011-1019 (2016).
  2. Ha, M., Lim, S., Ko, H. Wearable an....

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