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

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将研究一种新型生物电极是否能比目前最先进的Ag/AgCl电极在皮肤上提供更低的噪音。即使经过广泛的皮肤清洁和磨损，目前技术的噪声水平大约是第一级放大器内部电子噪声的十倍。对新电极的临时版本进行的初步实验显示，灵敏度有两个直接的提高。基于水下新材料性能的争论表明，测量噪声可能会降低十倍。这个第一阶段的项目将测试一系列在不同条件下制造的新电极，目标是定义一个最好地利用新方法的协议。根据结果并与四名学术医学研究人员合作，将量化具体研究和医学应用方面的效益。更广泛的/商业影响是，降低了生物电极中的测量噪声，提供了记录和区分目前无法测量的微弱信号的能力，以及定位和分离小到无法解决的信号源。生物电极广泛应用于研究和医学，用于记录身体的电活动（如心脏、大脑和一般肌肉的活动）。如果成功，SBIR将为许多领域的科学和技术提供一个基本的进步。全世界大约有1000个实验室在研究脑电活动，这些实验室可以从提高电极灵敏度中获得实质性的好处。随着研究的进展和临床应用的展示，标准的路径是将新的研究进展应用于临床实践，创造更大的市场。此外，涉及心电图p波和t波等小信号的心脏诊断也存在重要的临床市场。

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.