Towards emerging EEG applications: a novel printable flexible Ag/AgCl dry electrode array for robust recording of EEG signals at forehead sites

Objectives. With the rapid development of EEG-based wearable healthcare devices and brain-computer interfaces, reliable and user-friendly EEG sensors for EEG recording, especially at forehead sites, are highly desirable and challenging. However, existing EEG sensors cannot meet the requirements, since wet electrodes require tedious setup and conductive pastes or gels, and most dry electrodes show unacceptable high contact impedance. In addition, the existing electrodes cannot absorb sweat effectively; sweat would cause cross-interferences, and even short circuits, between adjacent electrodes, especially in the moving scenarios, or a hot and humid environment. To resolve these problems, a novel printable flexible Ag/AgCl dry electrode array was developed for EEG acquisition at forehead sites, mainly consisting of screen printing the Ag/AgCl coating, conductive sweat-absorbable sponges and flexible tines. Approach. A systematic method was also established to evaluate the flexible dry electrode array. Main results. The experimental results show the flexible dry electrode array has reproducible electrode potential, relatively low electrode-skin impedance, and good stability. Moreover, the EEG signals can be effectively captured with a high quality that is comparable to that of wet electrodes. Significance. All the results confirmed the feasibility of forehead EEG recording in real-world scenarios using the proposed flexible dry electrode array, with a rapid and facile operation as well as the advantages of self-application, user-friendliness and wearer comfort.