Preparation and characterization of a novel sprayable hydrogel for skin preparation to record ECG and other biopotentials.

Abstract

Wet electrodes are widely used to perform biopotential measurements from the body, such as electroencephalogram, electrocardiogram, and electromyogram. These electrodes have certain disadvantages, including bacterial growth, irritation in long-term recordings, infection to patients' skin caused by skin preparation techniques, and unpleasant feeling caused after their removal. Thus, a sprayable hydrogel (SH) was designed to avoid these problems. Five electrode configurations, namely, Zipprep™, wet Ag/AgCl, wipes, dry Ag/AgCl, and SH, were tested using an impedance analyzer. Measurements were obtained by placing each of the electrode systems on the forearm of five subjects, which comprised one Caucasian, two Indians, one Syrian, and one Cypriot aging between 23 and 60years for 10min. Impedance versus time and reactance versus resistance performance plots were compared and assessed. The performance of the SH sprayed under dry electrodes had lower impedance values compared with those of the dry Ag/AgCl and wipes. As a result, the SH electrode configuration can be used as an electrode set-up for acquiring and recording various physiological signals.