Impedance and electromyographic properties of metal dry bioelectrode with non-uniform surface microstructure

To develop a bioelectrode with excellent electrical performance, laser micromachining was proposed to fabricate a metal dry bioelectrode with a non-uniform surface microstructure. By controlling the scanning path, scanning times, and output power, metal dry bioelectrodes with different types of surface microstructure distribution (uniform and non-uniform) were obtained. Compared with traditional Ag/AgCl wet electrode, the influence of the surface microstructure distribution on the impedance and electromyographic properties of metal dry bioelectrodes was investigated. Results show that the surface microstructure distribution has little influence on the impedance properties of the bioelectrode within the testing time and frequency domains. However, the electromyographic properties of metal dry bioelectrodes with uniform and non-uniform surface microstructures were better than that of conventional Ag/AgCl wet electrodes. The strongest electromyographic signal was obtained using a metal dry bioelectrode with non-uniform surface microstructure.