2009 IEEE 11th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics

Kyoto International Conference Center, Japan, June 23-26, 2009

Comparison of Surface EMG Monitoring Electrodes for Long-term

Use in Rehabilitation Device Control
C. Pylatiuk, M. Mller-Riederer, A. Kargov, S. Schulz, O. Schill, M. Reischl and G. Bretthauer,
Member of IEEE

Abstract In this paper different types of electrodes for
long-term surface EMG recording are compared to a
reference electrode that is established for clinical use. The
electrode materials include four different polymers with
conductive load and a fabric of threads coated by a
conductive layer. Different criteria are used to evaluate
surface EMG recording: the signal quality, including signal-
to-noise (SNR) ratio, and impedance in long-term
monitoring. The aim of the study is to find an EMG electrode
that allows for both silicone liner and textile integration for
control of rehabilitation devices for quadriplegics with a
partial residual function of the upper limb and for
multifunctional prosthetic hands. Besides electrical
properties, the biocompatibility and the wearing comfort
have to be considered to achieve a wide acceptance by the
patients. Except for one evaluated electrode, the signal
quality of the four different surface electrodes is comparable
to commercial Ag/AgCl gel electrodes in long-term
monitoring.
I. INTRODUCTION
evaluate different electrode materials and test their
practicability in comparison with AG/AgCl electrodes and
especially in vivo tests are still lacking.
II. OBJECTIVE
Electrodes for surface EMG monitoring that can be
integrated in a textile or in a silicone liner have to comply
with different requirements. Ideally, they have to be
biocompatible and sufficiently soft and flexible to provide
a good wearing comfort, thus resulting in wide acceptance
by the patients. They also have to ensure a good signal
quality during long-term use. Finally, they have to be
robust enough to be washed repeatedly together with the
carrier textiles.
Appropriate sensors for surface EMG monitoring are
needed that comply with the above criteria. In a first step
different potential electrode materials have to be evaluated
clinically with regard to their signal quality.

P EOPLE with paraplegia or amputation of the upper

extremity suffer from the loss of motoric functions and
in particular of the gripping function. This may lead to
III. MATERIALS AND METHODS

A. Electrode Materials
life-long dependence on helping persons and means a
Five different materials were investigated and are
considerable restriction of the quality of life. The
depicted in table 1. Three of them consist of various types
paramount objective of modern rehabilitation medicine is
of Pt-catalyzed polysiloxane (silicone rubber) with a
to at least partly restore the individual functional defects.
biocompatibility certificate according to ISO 10993. By
Powered prosthetic and orthotic devices can provide the
loading with carbon or unspecified nanoparticles,
patient with autonomy. However, high fidelity signals
electrical conductivity was achieved [2]. Additionally, a
from monitoring electrodes are required that ensure
textile electrode (#4) consisting of Elitex threads [3]
unchanged signal quality for a long period and easy
(galvanically modified silvered threads made of polyamide
application. Ideally, the sensors and stimulation system
yarn) was evaluated. This electrode has to be saturated
should be integrated in silicone rubber liner or textiles to
with electrolyte dilution for operation as a surface EMG
provide high wearing comfort without skin irritation.
electrode. The electrode is supplied by the Textile
Commercial Ag/AgCl electrodes that are applied in
Research Institute Thuringia Vogtland (TITV), Greiz,
clinical practice typically comprise an electrolyte gel to
Germany. The material used to assemble electrode #5 is
ensure functioning. However, these electrodes may cause
based on a flexible thermoplastic elastomer loaded with
skin irritation and allergies and the electrolyte gel dries up
silver-coated glass microspheres, resulting in a highly
with time, causing a drastic decrease of the signal quality
conductive compound that is usually intended for
[1]. Thus, dry electrodes have been proposed as an
electromagnetic interference (EMI) gasket applications.
alternative for long-term monitoring of biopotentials like
All electrodes were connected via a snap fastener to the
ECG, EEG, and EMG [1, 2]. Nevertheless, studies to
leads of the data acquisition equipment and the
manufacturing process is illustrated in Fig. 1. The
I. Manuscript received February 5, 2009. This work was supported different types of electrodes are depicted in Table 1 and
by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the Fig. 2.
funding program Innovative aids. The project Orthojacket is a health
research cooperation between science and industry.
C. Pylatiuk, M. Mller-Riederer, A. Kargov, S. Schulz, O. schill, M.
Reischl and G. Bretthauer are with the Institute for Applied Computer
Science, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz-
1, D-76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, GERMANY (corresponding
authors phone: +49-7247-82-2430; fax: +49-7247-82-5786; e-mail:
pylatiuk@iai.fzk.de).

9781-4244-3789-4/09/$25.00 2009 IEEE 300


Fig. 1. Schematic view of the electrodes manufacturing process.
Two layers of conductive silicone (black) enclose a copper mesh and
are bonded to a textile.
conductive resistance
# carrier material
load [/cm]
1 polysiloxane nanoparticles N.N.
2 polysiloxane carbon
3 polysiloxane carbon
4 polyamide thread silver coating
thermoplastic silver-coated 0.01
5
elastomer glass
Table 1. The five different electrode materials evaluated and their
conductive loads and resulting resistances.
Fig. 2. Different electrodes used in this study. Left side: Dual
Ag/AgCl gel electrodes (=reference electrode). Center: Polysiloxane-
based electrodes, right side: Textile electrodes
B. Evaluation
As a reference, adhesive dual-snap disposable Ag/AgCl
gel electrodes for surface EMG applications (product
#272, Noraxon Inc., Scottsdale, USA) were utilized. The
diameter of each of the two circular conductive areas is 1
cm, inter-electrode distance is 2 cm. The other five
electrodes were applied consecutively with an elastic band
to the biceps muscle belly of six healthy test persons with
an inter-electrode distance of 3 cm. The diameter of each
of the two circular conductive areas is 2 cm. A three-
electrode setup with a copper counter electrode held on
the same side was applied. The measurements were
completed five minutes after the application of the
electrodes and repeated after 60 min. Data acquisition was
performed according to the recommendations for non-
invasive surface EMG recording provided by the
SENIAM project [4]. Data acquisition of the EMG signals
was performed with a sampling frequency of 2 kHz using
a BioAmp, a Powerlab 4/20 data acquisition system,
and LabChart software (all from AD Instruments Ltd.,
Sydney, Australia). Pre-processing of the raw signals
included differential amplification, high-pass and low-pass
filtering with cut-off frequencies of 10 and 500 Hz,
respectively, notch filtering of 50 Hz, and rectification.
Six healthy colleagues (age 25-41 years) participated in
the experiment after signing an informed-consent form.
The subjects had no history or clinical signs of upper
extremity injury or dysfunction. Two test routines were
performed to assess the electrodes monitoring
capabilities:
1) Signal quality: The test persons were asked to lift five
times their forearm against gravity until elbow flexion
of 90 was achieved and to maintain the position for 5
seconds. Then, the same movements had to be
performed with weights of 1, 2, 3, and 7 kg added to
9 the hand (Fig. 3).
2.8
0.2
Fig. 3. Data acquisition with different loads.
Static muscle contraction signals and periods without
intentional muscle contraction were detected
automatically. Mean values were computed using the
Matlab toolbox Gait-CAD [5]. Signal-to-noise ratios
(SNR) were calculated for each measurement and
correlations were calculated between the signals of
the Ag/AgCl gel electrode and the other electrodes.
2) Electrode characterization by assessing electrode-to-
skin impedance in a two-electrode configuration. The
50 A measurement signal was provided with a
frequency of 100 Hz by a precision impedance
analyzer (HP4294A from Agilent, Santa Clara, USA).
Measurements of the impedance were repeated 16
times within 3 h.
301
 IV. RESULTS
A. Correlations with Reference Electrode
The signals of the five electrode materials were
evaluated in comparison with the signals provided by an
Ag/AgCl gel electrode as a reference. The correlations of
the signals measured 5 and 60 min. after application of the
electrodes are depicted in Figs. 4 and 5, respectively.
1.0
0.8
0.6
correlation coefficients
fifth electrode did not correlate with the corresponding
signals of the Ag/AgCl gel electrode.
B. Signal-to-noise Ratios (SNR)
As a second criterion to evaluate signal quality, the
ratios of the signal to the background noise were
calculated for the data recorded 5 and 60 min. after
application of the electrodes. The results are given in Figs.
6 and 7.
300

0.4 250 high load

signal-to-noise ratios (SNR)

low load
0.2
200
0.0
1 2 3 4 5 6 150
-0.2
test person #
-0.4 100
-0.6
50
-0.8

-1.0 0
1 2 3 4 5 Ref
Fig. 4. Correlations of the five different electrodes with the Ag/AgCl
electrode material #
gel electrode five minutes after application to the skin of the six test
persons. (black bar= material #1, gray bar with dots= material #2, etc.) Fig. 6. Average SNRs recorded with 5 different electrode materials
and the Ag/AgCl reference electrode (Ref) 5 min. after application of
the electrodes to the test persons with low load on the muscle (light
gray bar) and high load on the muscle (dark gray bar).
1.0

0.8

0.6
correlation coefficients

0.4 300

0.2
250
signal-to-noise ratios (SNR)

high load
0.0
low load
1 2 3 4 5 6 200
-0.2
test person #
-0.4
150
-0.6
100
-0.8

-1.0 50

Fig. 5. Correlations of the same five electrodes with the reference 0

electrode one hour after application. (black bar= material #1, gray bar 1 2 3 4 5 Ref
with dots= material #2, etc.) electrode material #

Fig. 7. Average SNRs recorded 60 min. after application of the

Five minutes after application of the electrodes, highest
correlations were found between the signals of the
reference electrode and those of the third electrode, which
is reflected by an average correlation coefficient of
=0.98. High average correlations were also found
between the data of the Ag/AgCl gel electrode and the
corresponding measurements of the first, second, and
fourth electrodes with correlation coefficients of in the
range of 0.91 to 0.95. The signals from the fifth electrode
did not correlate with the data from the Ag/AgCl gel
electrode and correlated negatively in test person #4.
Comparable correlations were found sixty minutes after
application of the electrodes. The signals recorded with
the first, second, and third electrode correlated highly with
those of the reference electrode, which is reflected by a
coefficient in the range of =0.97 to 0.98. However,
decreased average correlations (=0.76) were found
between the signals of the fourth electrode material and
the reference electrode. Again, the data recorded with the
electrodes to the test persons, who exerted low muscle contraction
(light graybar) and high muscle contraction (dark gray bar).
The average SNR of all electrode materials used to
record surface EMG signals, except for electrode #5, was
in the range of 76:1 to 264:1 when an extra load of 7 kg
had to be lifted (high load). Lower SNRs were calculated
when no extra load had to be exerted by the biceps muscle
(low load). The SNR of electrode #1 was highest with
16:1, followed by electrode #4 with 14:1. The others,
including the Ag/AgCl reference electrode, ranged
between 4:1 and 9:1.
Sixty minutes after application of the electrodes, the
average SNRs of electrodes #1 and #4 decreased, whereas
the average SNRs of electrodes #2 and #3 and of the
reference electrode increased compared to the results
found after five minutes. The SNRs of electrode #5
remained on a low level.

302
C. Electrode-to-skin Interface Impedance
The sequential progression of the electrode-to-skin
impedances for the different electrode materials is given in
Fig. 8. Five minutes after application of the electrodes, the
electrode-to-skin impedance of the textile electrode (#4)
and of the reference electrode were below 50 k only.
Twenty minutes after application, the impedances of all
electrodes except for #2, were in the range of 10 and 50
k. After one hour, the impedance of the textile electrode
increased continuously, whereas the impedances of the
other electrodes remained in the range of 30 and 70 k.
400
300
Impedance [k]
200
100
0
0 30 60 90 120 150
time [min]
Fig. 8. Temporal behavior of electrode-skin impedance of 5 different
electrode materials within 3 h. (=electrode #1, =electrode #2,
=electrode #3, o=electrode #4, = electrode #5, *= reference
electrode)
V. DISCUSSION
Evaluation of the signal amplitudes depending on the
load added to the forearm revealed that all three
polysiloxane-based electrode materials exhibited high
correlations with the signals obtained with an Ag/AgCl gel
electrode as a reference. High correlations were found
both five and 60 minutes after application of the
electrodes, indicating robust signal conduction. However,
high electrical conductivity does not ensure good signal
quality. For example, signals of the highly conductive
elastomer material used for electrode #4 did not correlate
with the signals measured with the reference electrode and
the SNRs were the lowest of all electrodes evaluated in
this study. In contrast to this, the conductive textile
material delivered a good signal quality as long as the
electrode was saturated with electrolyte dilution. Sixty
minutes after application of the electrodes to the test
persons skin, however, signal quality decreased
significantly due to evaporation of the electrolyte dilution.
Hence, EMG surface monitoring is limited to a short time
unless the textile electrodes are drenched repeatedly.
The signals recorded with Ag/AgCl gel electrodes were
assumed to be the gold standard in this study. However,
some of the other electrodes evaluated reached better
SNRs than those calculated for the reference electrode.
This applied especially when no extra load had to be lifted
by the test persons and their biceps muscles exerted only
low forces resulting in lower EMG signals.
Additionally, it has to be considered that the signals
were recorded under ideal conditions in this study. In
clinical practice the EMG signal quality may decrease
significantly e.g. when fixation of the electrodes is
insufficient and motions between the electrode and the
patients skin cause disturbance. It was demonstrated by
[1] that as perspiration builds up and hydrates the skin
layer artefact levels from movements are lower in dry
electrodes than in Ag/AgCl electrodes.
The electrode-to-skin impedance has a major impact on
signal quality in EMG surface recording. According to the
SENIAM recommendations [4], the impedance has to be
determined prior to any EMG surface data acquisition.
The impedance is a complex resistance to alternating
currents, and a simplified models of an electrical
equivalent circuit are given in [1, 2]. During the first two
hours after application of the electrodes to the test
persons` skin, the lowest impedance was found for the
textile electrode (material #4), which was even lower than
that of the reference electrode. After one hour, however,
the impedance of electrode #4 increased steadily due to
drying up of the electrolyte dilution, resulting in a
significant decrease of signal quality.
The electrode-skin impedances of electrode materials
180
#1 and #3 decreased to below 50 k within the first 20
min. after electrode application, whereas the impedances
of electrode materials #2 and #5 dropped down to a range
of 40 to 80 k. Nevertheless, signal quality of all three
Polysiloxane electrodes was good already five minutes
after attaching them to the test persons` biceps muscles,
indicating that sufficient sweat was produced between the
skin and the electrodes that served as an electrolyte. The
findings comply with the results found by [1, 2] and the
impedances of all electrodes are much lower than those of
steel or aluminum electrodes [1] which are in the range of
0.5 M. Additionally, inter-individual differences of
electrode-to-skin impedances depending on different skin
types have to be considered [1].
VI. CONCLUSION
It was demonstrated in this study that electrodes made
of three different material combinations of Polysiloxane
and conductive load produce signals in EMG surface
recordings that correlate highly with the corresponding
signals of Ag/AgCl gel electrodes. Moreover, two of the
assessed electrodes proved to have higher SNRs than the
reference electrode. A textile electrode made of
conductive yarn also delivered a good signal quality as
long as the electrode was saturated with electrolyte
dilution. All three Polysiloxane electrode materials
assessed in this study are flexible and biocompatible and
can be used for dry signal acquisition without the use of
any electrolyte gel or dilution. It is expected that they can
be used for monitoring EMG signals in multifunctional
prosthetic hands [6]. Additionally these electrodes are
ideally suited for textile integration being part of a control
system for powered upper limb rehabilitation system [7].
Further measurements with different electrode designs and
patients suffering from paraplegia are needed for
identifying the best suitable surface EMG electrode.
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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors gratefully acknowledge the valuable help of
Rdiger Rupp of the Orthopedic University Hospital,
Heidelberg, Germany, Christian Rotsch of the Textile
Research Institute Thuringia Vogtland (TITV), Greiz,
Germany, Niels Wessel of the University of Potsdam,
Germany and Roman Ruff of the Fraunhofer Institute for
Biomedical Engineering, St. Ingbert, Germany.
This work is supported by the German Federal Ministry of
Education and Research BMBF grant 01EZ-0774.

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