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. 2018 Aug 24;8(3):79.
doi: 10.3390/bios8030079.

Breathable Dry Silver/Silver Chloride Electronic Textile Electrodes for Electrodermal Activity Monitoring

Peter A Haddad  1 , Amir Servati  2 , Saeid Soltanian  3 , Frank Ko  4 , Peyman Servati  5
Affiliations

Breathable Dry Silver/Silver Chloride Electronic Textile Electrodes for Electrodermal Activity Monitoring

Peter A Haddad et al. Biosensors (Basel). .

Abstract

The focus of this study is to design and integrate silver/silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) electronic textile (e-textile) electrodes into different textile substrates to evaluate their ability to monitor electrodermal activity (EDA). Ag/AgCl e-textiles were stitched into woven textiles of cotton, nylon, and polyester to function as EDA monitoring electrodes. EDA stimulus responses detected by dry e-textile electrodes at various locations on the hand were compared to the EDA signals collected by dry solid Ag/AgCl electrodes. 4-h EDA data with e-textile and clinically conventional rigid electrodes were compared in relation to skin surface temperature. The woven cotton textile substrate with e-textile electrodes (0.12 cm² surface area, 0.40 cm distance) was the optimal material to detect the EDA stimulus responses with the highest average Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.913 ± 0.041 when placed on the distal phalanx of the middle finger. In addition, differences with EDA waveforms recorded on various fingers were observed. Trends of long-term measurements showed that skin surface temperature affected EDA signals recorded by non-breathable electrodes more than when e-textile electrodes were used. The effective design criteria outlined for e-textile electrodes can promote the development of comfortable and unobtrusive EDA monitoring systems, which can help improve our knowledge of the human neurological system.

Keywords: biomedical; electrodermal activity; electrodes; electronic textiles; flexible electronics; monitoring; wearable electronics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Stitch patterns for e-textile electrodermal activity (EDA) electrodes, where each e-textile electrode exposed to the surface of the skin covers 0.12 cm2 of surface area.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematics illustrating the location of the sensors for the (a) 15-min tests and (b) 4-h test.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Optical images of (a) cotton, (b) nylon, and (c) polyester fabrics used to estimate the warp and weft thread counts in a 1 × 1 cm area.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Optical images of water droplet on surfaces of (a) solid silver/silver chloride, as well as (b) cotton, (c) nylon, and (d) polyester textiles.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Images of e-textile EDA electrode strap prototypes using cotton, nylon, and polyester textile substrates.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Example EDA stimulus response shown by conductance (primary y-axis) for dry e-textile electrodes (0.12 cm2 surface area, 0.40 cm distance) at the distal phalanx of the index, middle, and little fingers compared to dry commercial electrodes (1.00 cm2 surface area, 1.50 cm distance) on the proximal and medial phalanges of the middle finger. Skin surface temperature is also shown (secondary y-axis).
Figure 7
Figure 7
The average Pearson correlation coefficients for the comparison of the EDA stimulus responses of the rigid electrodes (1.50 cm distance, 1.00 cm2 surface area) to the signals of the e-textile electrodes of 0.12 cm2 surface area with distances of 0.40 cm integrated into cotton, nylon, and polyester textile substrates on the distal phalanx of the index, middle, and little finger on the palm of the hand. Standard deviations are shown and one-tailed t-test results with p-values < 0.05 (*) and p-value < 0.10 (**) are indicated. For each value n = 3.
Figure 8
Figure 8
The average minimum to maximum EDA signal percent change per sweat gland for comparison of EDA waveforms from the distal phalanx of the index, middle, and little fingers on the palm. Standard deviations are shown and one-tailed t-test results with p-values < 0.05 (*) and p-value < 0.10 (**) are indicated. For each value n = 9.
Figure 9
Figure 9
4-h EDA data shown by conductance (primary y-axis) for dry e-textile electrodes (0.12 cm2 surface area, 0.40 cm distance) on the distal phalanx of the middle finger compared to dry commercial electrodes (1.00 cm2 surface area, 1.50 cm distance) on the proximal and medial phalanges of the middle finger. Skin surface temperature is also shown (secondary y-axis) with time in seconds (x-axis).
Figure 10
Figure 10
The signal percent difference of the skin surface temperature, standard electrode baseline EDA signal, and e-textile baseline EDA signal from the beginning of the test and at each hour time point ± 10 min.
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