title: Embroidered electrode with silver/titanium coating for long-term ECG monitoring.
abstract: For the long-time monitoring of electrocardiograms, electrodes must be skin-friendly and non-irritating, but in addition they must deliver leads without artifacts even if the skin is dry and the body is moving. Today's adhesive conducting gel electrodes are not suitable for such applications. We have developed an embroidered textile electrode from polyethylene terephthalate yarn which is plasma-coated with silver for electrical conductivity and with an ultra-thin titanium layer on top for passivation. Two of these electrodes are embedded into a breast belt. They are moisturized with a very low amount of water vapor from an integrated reservoir. The combination of silver, titanium and water vapor results in an excellent electrode chemistry. With this belt the long-time monitoring of electrocardiography (ECG) is possible at rest as well as when the patient is moving.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Protection and Physiology, EMPA, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland. markus.weder@empa.ch.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weder
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Advanced Fibers, EMPA, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland. dirk.hegemann@empa.ch.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hegemann
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Advanced Fibers, EMPA, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland. martin.amberg@empa.ch.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amberg
authors.affiliation: Unico Swiss Tex GmbH, Chälengasse 4, CH-6053 Alpnachstad, Switzerland. info@unico-swiss-tex.ch.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hess
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Protection and Physiology, EMPA, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland. luciano.boesel@empa.ch.
authors.forename: Luciano F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Boesel
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Institute, University Hospital Basel, Spitalstrasse 2, CH-4031 Basel, Switzerland. roger.abaecherli@usb.ch.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abächerli
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Protection and Physiology, EMPA, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland. veronika.meyer@empa.ch.
authors.forename: Veronika R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Protection and Physiology, EMPA, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland. rene.rossi@empa.ch.
authors.forename: René M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Rossi
mesh_terms: D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004566:Electrodes; D006801:Humans; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D011093:Polyethylene Terephthalates / Q000737:chemistry; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D012834:Silver / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013909:Thorax / Q000502:physiology; D014025:Titanium / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017155:Wettability
chemical_list: D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D011093:Polyethylene Terephthalates; D012834:Silver; D014025:Titanium