Skin Impedance Comparisons of Electrodes for Electro-Oculography

Abstract

In an effort to define the most comfortable electrode needing the simplest skin preparation with low and stable skin impedance, we compared the impedance between skin electrodes and Stat-Trace II St-102 EKG electrodes (Niko Med USA, New Brunswick, NJ)--the latter being renamed "dry electrodes" because they are used without electrolyte paste--on 12 normal subjects with two different skin preparations, with and without alcohol. The dry electrodes were found to have lower impedance than the skin electrodes. With each skin preparation the alcohol scored better, 7.2 kOhm vs 16.5 kOhm, respectively, and "no preparation" worse, 13.8 kOhm vs 22.7 kOhm, respectively, (but still acceptable when the dry electrode was used). The dry electrode's impedance was quite stable from the moment of application while the skin electrode's impedance drifted dramatically for 30 minutes. If the dry electrode was halved in area of skin contact, as often is necessary with the nasal electrode in children, the impedance rose proportionally but remained acceptable. We conclude that the new dry electrodes give us improved electro-oculography records and suggest their use, particularly for infants and young children where ease of application and simple skin preparation are particularly important.