Development of a Flexible and Wireless ECG Monitoring Device

A flexible wireless electrocardiogram (ECG) device was fabricated for monitoring physiological signals in wearable biomedical applications. The ECG device consists of dry electrodes and a readout module. The dry electrode was fabricated by depositing multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite on a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) substrate with screen printed silver (Ag) layer. The readout module with wireless data transmission capability was designed and fabricated on a flexible polyimide substrate. The ECG device was attached to a fabric, and its performance was investigated by measuring the ECG signals and comparing the signals with the results of conventional wet Ag/AgCl ECG electrode ECG signals. It was observed that the device demonstrated equal performance in terms of signal intensity and correlation when compared to the conventional wet ECG electrodes. The methodology and results of the device are analyzed and presented in this paper.