A comparison of conductive textile-based and silver/silver chloride gel electrodes in exercise electrocardiogram recordings

Background: The goal of this study was to compare disposable silver/silver chloride and reusable conductive textile-based electrodes in electrocardiogram (ECG) signal monitoring during physical activity. Materials and Methods: The reusable electrodes were produced using thin silver-plated nylon 117/17 2-ply conductive thread (Statex Productions & Vertriebs GmbH, Bremen, Germany) sewed with a sewing machine on a chest belt. The disposable and reusable electrodes were compared in vivo according to ECG signal baseline drift, broadband electrode noise properties, and influence of electrode area to ECG signal morphology and frequency content. Twelve volunteers were included in this study. Results: Electroconductive textile-based ECG electrodes produce significantly more noise in a very low frequency band (0-0.67 Hz) and not significantly less of broadband noise (0-250 Hz) than disposable silver/silver chloride electrodes. Decreasing area of textile electrodes decreases fidelity of registered ECG signals at low frequencies. Conclusion: Textile electrodes having adequate area can be used in more applications than only R-R interval monitoring. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.