A Study on the Development of Textile Electrodes for Body Contact Sensing for High-reliability Smartwear

Abstract

Conductive fabrics can be used for a variety of purposes and have the advantage of being soft and flexible, allowing for easy collection of personal body change data from the closest position on the body. Among various biosignals, EMG and ECG are the most commonly collected and fundamental biosignal information. To accurately acquire wearable EMG and ECG data, the role of electrodes is crucial. Currently, biosignal monitoring is primarily performed using wet electrodes; however, they have disadvantages such as skin damage from prolonged use, discomfort from attachment and detachment, and being single-use and non-washable. Therefore, for healthcare consumers and patients, there is a need for wearable electrodes capable of long-term monitoring of biosignals, and gel-free dry electrodes, and ultimately, conductive textile electrodes are seen as alternatives to traditional wet electrodes in clothing-type wearable smart devices. This study focuses on researching high-reliability electrodes for stable biosignal acquisition by using silver, a material with excellent conductivity, to coat fabric and create conductive fabric. A dry-type fiber electrode was then created using the selected final conductive fabric. The fabricated fiber-type dry electrode was evaluated through comparative tests on its basic electrical properties, durability against stretching and tearing when applied to the human body, tactile performance on the skin during wear, resistance changes due to folding and creasing during activity, performance changes during washing, and performance variations in extreme temperature and humidity conditions. Through this evaluation, the reliability of the electrode’s applicability to clothing-type wearable smart devices for biosignal acquisition was confirmed, and the potential for its practical use was explored.