ENOBIO - First Tests of a Dry Electrophysiology Electrode using Carbon Nanotubes

Author

Ruffini, Giulio ; Dunne, Stephen ; Farres, Esteve ; Watts, Paul C P ; Mendoza, Ernest ; Silva, S. Ravi P ; Grau, Carles ; Marco-Pallares, Josep ; Fuentemilla, Lluis ; Vandecasteele, Bjorn

Author_Institution

C. de l´´Observatori, Starlab Barcelona S.L.

fYear

2006

fDate

Aug. 30 2006-Sept. 3 2006

Firstpage

1826

Lastpage

1829

Abstract

We describe the development and first tests of ENOBIO, a dry electrode sensor concept for biopotential applications. In the proposed electrodes the tip of the electrode is covered with a forest of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that can be coated with Ag/AgCl to provide ionic-electronic transduction. The CNT brush-like structure is to penetrate the outer layers of the skin improving electrical contact as well as increase the contact surface area. In this paper we report the results of the first tests of this concept-immersion on saline solution and pig skin signal detection. These indicate performance on a par with state of the art research-oriented wet electrodes

Keywords

bioelectric potentials; biomedical electrodes; carbon nanotubes; medical signal detection; silver compounds; skin; Ag-AgCl; ENOBIO; biopotential applications; brush-like structure; contact surface area; dry electrode sensor; electrical contact; electrophysiology electrode; ionic-electronic transduction; multiwalled carbon nanotubes; pig skin signal detection; saline solution; skin layers; Biomedical electrodes; Biomedical measurements; Biomedical monitoring; Biosensors; Carbon nanotubes; Contacts; Electroencephalography; Impedance; Skin; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2006. EMBS '06. 28th Annual International Conference of the IEEE

Conference_Location

New York, NY

ISSN

1557-170X

Print_ISBN

1-4244-0032-5

Electronic_ISBN

1557-170X

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IEMBS.2006.259248

Filename

4462131