Triboelectricity in Capacitive Biopotential Measurements

• Published in: IEEE transactions on biomedical engineering Vol. 58; no. 5; pp. 1268 - 1277
• Main Authors: Wartzek, Tobias, Lammersen, Thomas, Eilebrecht, Benjamin, Walter, Marian, Leonhardt, Steffen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.05.2011; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Algorithms; Biological and medical sciences; capacitive electrocardiography (ECG); Computer Simulation; Computerized, statistical medical data processing and models in biomedicine; Electric Capacitance; Electric potential; Electrocardiography; Electrocardiography - instrumentation; Electrocardiography. Vectocardiography; Electrodes; Electrodiagnosis. Electric activity recording; Electrostatics; Friction; Humans; Humidity; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); Materials; Mathematical model; Mathematical models; Medical management aid. Diagnosis aid; Medical sciences; Metals; modeling; Studies; Surface Properties; Textiles; Triboelectricity; Wood; Electrodiagnosis; Artifacts; electrodes; Electrocardiography; capacitive electrocardiography (ECG); triboelectricity; Artefact; Modeling; Biomedical engineering
• ISSN: 0018-9294; 1558-2531
• DOI: 10.1109/TBME.2010.2100393

Capacitive biopotential measurements suffer from strong motion artifacts, which may result in long time periods during which a reliable measurement is not possible. This study examines contact electrification and triboelectricity as possible reasons for these artifacts and discusses local triboelectric effects on the electrode-body interface as well as global electrostatic effects as common-mode interferences. It will be shown that most probably the triboelectric effects on the electrode-body interface are the main reason for artifacts, and a reduction of artifacts can only be achieved with a proper design of the electrode-body interface. For a deeper understanding of the observed effects, a mathematical model for triboelectric effects in highly isolated capacitive biopotential measurements is presented and verified with experiments. Based on these analyses of the triboelectric effects on the electrode-body interface, different electrode designs are developed and analyzed in order to minimize artifacts due to triboelectricity on the electrode-body interface.