Ag:TiN-Coated Polyurethane for Dry Biopotential Electrodes: From Polymer Plasma Interface Activation to the First EEG Measurements

• Main Author: Pedrosa, Paulo
• Publication Date: 2016
• Other Authors: Fiedler, Patrique, Lopes, Cláudia, Alves, Eduardo, Barradas, Nuno P., Haueisen, Jens, Machado, A. V., Fonseca, Carlos, Vaz, F.
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Download full: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/43593
• topic: Ag-doping; Dry electrodes; EEG; Interfacial adhesion; Plasma activation; Ciências Naturais::Ciências Físicas; Science & Technology

Several plasma treatments using argon, oxygen, and nitrogen are studied in order to increase the interfacial adhesion of the polyurethane/Ag:TiN system to be used as biopotential electrodes. The optimized plasma treatments conditions (100 W, 15 min, regardless of the gas) promote a steep decrease of the water contact angle values. The observed chemical and topographic alterations translate into excellent polyurethane/Ag:TiN interfacial adhesion of the plasma treated samples. The in-service validation of the proposed Ag:TiN-coated PU multipin electrodes is performed by acquiring EEG signals in parallel with the standard wet Ag/AgCl electrodes. No considerable differences are found in terms of shape, amplitude, and spectral characteristics of the signals when comparing reference wet and dry electrodes.