Design of Dry and Long-Lasting Electrodes for ECG

Humans and animals both generate bioelectric signals through their tissues in static and active forms. These signals could be used to check the different physiological conditions of the body. Electrocardiogram (ECG) is one of the signals produced by the heart. ECG helps to monitor the health of the heart such as heart rate, contraction of heart muscles, and blood circulation. Abnormality in these parameters can cause serious cardiovascular diseases. Thus, monitoring of ECG helps to early diagnose cardiovascular diseases. To measure these signals electrodes or sensors are used. There are several types of electrodes are developed to measure heart bioelectric signals, but they are not very efficient, consume more power, and can harm the skin. The focus of this research was to design new and more efficient dry electrodes. For this purpose, ECG noise was simulated in MATLAB and the main schematic diagram was designed. Suitable components of the electrode were selected according to the desired output. The circuit was designed through Proteus software and printed on PCB sticker paper. The evaluation result revealed that our designed ECG dry electrodes were more efficient than traditional gel-based ECG electrodes. Newly designed electrodes displayed less noise impedance and did not harm the skin of the patients. These dry electrodes can be used in hospitals to monitor ECG.