A damping and adhesive hydrogel electrode for continuous high-fidelity dynamic electrophysiological monitoring and human-machine interaction

Abstract

Bioelectronics have played a significant role in early detection of cardiovascular and brain diseases under static states. Achieving continuous and high-fidelity dynamic electrophysiological signals monitoring is equally important for evaluation of health conditions during sports. However, the current electrodes for bioelectronics face great challenges of severe motion artifacts caused by low-frequency mechanical vibrations during dynamic body movements. In addition, these electrodes may suffer serious interface separation with skin under dynamic skin deformation that can cause signal disruption. Here, a damping and adhesive hydrogel (DAH) electrode was developed by integrating bovine serum albumin (BSA), amylopectin (AP), and glycerol. Extensive hydrogen bond interactions between BSA and AP endow the DAH with unique viscoelasticity and excellent damping capacity, enabling selective filtering of low-frequency environmental noise. The highly branched structure of amylopectin exposes abundant hydroxyl groups that form strong electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonds with skin and provides superior adhesiveness. This DAH electrode can maintain high fidelity and signal continuity during various dynamic occasions including walking, tapping and vibration. Based on the DAH, a dynamic robot synchronous control system is demonstrated. Compared with current bioelectronic electrodes, the DAH provides suppressed motion artifact and anti-interface separation ability during dynamic electrophysiological monitoring. Such a DAH could enable the development of next-generation dynamic bioelectronic electrodes.