Benchtop Performance of Novel Mixed Ionic-Electronic Conductive Electrode Form Factors for Biopotential Recordings

Traditional gel-based (wet) electrodes for biopotential recordings have several shortcomings that limit their practicality for real-world measurements. Dry electrodes may improve usability, but they often suffer from reduced signal quality. We sought to evaluate the biopotential recording properties of a novel mixed ionic-electronic conductive (MIEC) material for improved performance. We fabricated four MIEC electrode form factors and compared their signal recording properties to two control electrodes, which are electrodes commonly used for biopotential recordings (Ag-AgCl and stainless steel). We used an agar synthetic skin to characterize the impedance of each electrode form factor. An electrical phantom setup allowed us to compare the recording quality of simulated biopotentials with ground-truth sources. All MIEC electrode form factors yielded impedances in a similar range to the control electrodes (all