ORCID

Abstract

Wearable dry electrodes facilitate continuous long-term electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring, which is beneficial for the early diagnosis and management of heart disease. However, existing dry electrode technologies face limitations in maintaining clinically acceptable signal quality during movement, restricting their usability when patients are active. This is particularly critical for cardiac patients—such as those with arrhythmias or heart failure—who benefit from continuous monitoring during daily activities, exercise, or rehabilitation, where motion artefacts often obscure clinically relevant ECG features. To address this gap, we present microneedle (MN) dry electrodes, manufactured using a cost-effective industrial injection moulding process that is scalable for mass. We performed a study on a small cohort of healthy volunteers, to compare the ECG signal quality recorded using MN dry electrodes with that obtained using conventional gel electrodes, under both static and ambulatory conditions. Signal quality was statistically assessed using parameters such as ECG waveform morphology, R-peak-to-peak interval, and heart rate variability (HRV) time-domain. The results demonstrate that MN dry electrodes exhibit signal quality comparable to that of wet electrodes, even under ambulatory motion. This finding highlights the novelty of a low-cost, mass-producible microneedle electrode technology that could bridge the gap between experimental dry electrodes and clinically accepted wet electrodes.

Publication Date

2026-01-30

Publication Title

IEEE Access

Volume

14

ISSN

2169-3536

Acceptance Date

2026-01-24

Deposit Date

2026-02-10

Funding

This work was supported in part by the Bundesministerium fur Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie (BMVIT), Austria, within the Framework of the Program ‘‘Production of the Future’’ (MicroNeedle), under Grant 853482; in part by the Government of Ireland through the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (HOLISTICS), under Grant DT2018 0291-A; in part by the Research Ireland via the Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics under Grant SFI/12/RC/2289-P2; in part by European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (Electronic Smart Patch System for Wireless Monitoring of Molecular Biomarkers for Healthcare and well-being (ELSAH) Project) under Grant 825549; in part by the Higher Education Authority through the Program for Research in Third-Level Institutions; in part by European Regional Development Fund; and in part by RCF Fund, 2024, under Grant GH110068-120.

Keywords

ECG, Injection-Moulded Electrodes, Microneedle Electrodes, Signal Acquisition, Microneedle electrodes, signal acquisition, injection-moulded electrodes

First Page

18566

Last Page

18580

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