3D-Printed Electrocardiogram Dry Electrodes Using Four Commercially Available Polylactic Acid Conductive Filaments

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide. Therefore, the ability to monitor electrocardiogram (ECG) in the long term could save patients’ lives by allowing early diagnosis and intervention. Dry electrodes are the best option to accomplish this task. 3D printing is one of the popular techniques currently used to construct dry electrodes. This project designs, builds, tests, and compares 3D printed ECG electrodes using four commercially available electrically conductive polylactic acid-based fuzed deposition modeling filaments. Also, this project uses these printed electrodes to acquire ECG raw signals. Then it compares these signals by calculating their signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and their ability to measure heart rate using the Pan–Tompkins algorithm. Also, the resistance of these printed electrodes is measured. In conclusion, all printed electrodes in this experiment show acceptable efficiency with SNR values equal to or larger than 18.89 dB, and these electrodes prove their ability to measure heart rate using the Pan–Tompkins algorithm. However, according to the results of this experiment, one commercially available brand (Proto-Pasta) is more favorable to use. Proto-Pasta has the highest SNR value (20.71 dB), the second lower resistance values (∼ from 600 Ω to 2 kΩ), the lowest 60 Hz powerline and low-frequency noise, the most accurate printed electrodes (the printed electrodes have less shape deformity compared to other brands), and no any noticeable physical malfunction (no knops break from the electrodes during the test process).