Carbon nanotube based electrodes can overcome the drawbacks posed by the conventional wet electrodes, used for
physiological monitoring. Here, multiwalled CNT arrays were grown on highly doped n-type Si-wafers with Fe-catalyst
layer, using a thermal CVD system. Acetylene was used as the carbon source gas, while Ammonia was the
reducing gas and Argon was the purging inert gas, in these experiments. The thermal annealing of the catalyst layer
and the carbon nanotube growth schedule, were optimized to get a dense and uniform multiwalled CNT array. SEM
images reveal dense uniform growth of multiwalled carbon nanotubes over the entire catalyst deposited area. The
cross-sectional images reveal a quasi-vertical alignment.
The bioelectrical potentials generated within the human body are the result of electrochemical activity in the excitable
cells of the nervous, muscular or glandular tissues. The ionic potentials are measured using biopotential electrodes which
convert ionic potentials to electronic potentials. The commonly monitored biopotential signals are Electrocardiogram
(ECG), Electroencephalogram (EEG) and Electromyogram (EMG). The electrodes used to monitor biopotential signals
are Ag-AgCl and gold, which require skin preparation by means of scrubbing to remove the dead cells and application of
electrolytic gel to reduce the skin contact resistance. The gels used in biopotential recordings dry out when used for
longer durations and add noise to the signals and also prolonged use of gels cause irritations and rashes to skin. Also
noises such as motion artifact and baseline wander are added to the biopotential signals as the electrode floats over the
electrolytic gel during monitoring. To overcome these drawbacks, dry electrodes are used, where the electrodes are held
against the skin surface to establish contact with the skin without the need for electrolytic fluids or gels. The major
drawback associated with the dry electrodes is the high skin-electrode impedance in the low frequency range between
0.1-120 Hz, which makes it difficult to acquire clean and noise free biopotential signals. The paper presents the design
and development of biopotential data acquisition and processing system to acquire biopotential signals from dry
electrodes. The electrode-skin-electrode- impedance (ESEI) measurements was carried out for the dry electrodes by
impedance spectroscopy. The biopotential signals are processed using an instrumentation amplifier with high CMRR and
high input impedance achieved by boot strapping the input terminals. The signals are band limited by means of a second
order Butterworth band pass filters to eliminate noise. The processed biopotential signals are digitized and transmitted
wirelessly to a remote monitoring station.
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