SBIR Phase I:Reduced Noise Bioelectrode for Improved Detection and Imaging

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will investigate whether a new type of bioelectrode can provide lower noise on the skin than the current state-of-the-art Ag/AgCl electrodes. Even after extensive skin cleaning and abrasion, the noise level of present technology is approximately ten times higher than the internal electronic noise of the first stage amplifier. Preliminary experiments with a lash-up version of the new electrode showed an immediate factor of two improvement in sensitivity. Arguments based on the performance of the new materials underwater suggest a factor of ten reduction in measurement noise might be achieved. This Phase I project will test a set of the new electrodes made under different conditions on a range of subjects with the goal of defining a protocol to best exploit the new approach. Based on the results and in collaboration with four academic medical researchers, the benefits in specific research and medical applications will be quantified. The broader/commercial impact is that reduced measurement noise in biolectrodes offers the capability to record and discriminate signals too weak to be currently measurable, and localize and separate sources to small to be resolved. Bioelectrodes are used extensively in research and medicine for recording the electrical activity of the body (e.g. the heart, brain, and general muscle activation). If successful, this SBIR offers a basic advance in science and technology that is applicable in many areas. There are around 1000 laboratories worldwide studying brain electrical activity that could gain substantial benefit from improved electrode sensitivity. As research progresses and demonstrates clinical utility, the standard path is for new research advances to be adopted into clinical practice, creating much larger markets. In addition significant clinical markets exist for cardiac diagnosis involving small signals such as the P-wave and T-wave of the electrocardiogram.