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

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将调查一种新型的生物电极是否可以比目前最先进的银/氯化银电极提供更低的皮肤噪音。即使经过广泛的皮肤清洗和磨损，目前技术的噪声水平也比第一级放大器的内部电子噪声高出近十倍。对新电极的应急版本的初步实验表明，灵敏度提高了两个直接因素。基于这种新材料在水下的性能的论证表明，测量噪音可能会减少10倍。这一第一阶段项目将在一系列受试者身上测试在不同条件下制造的一套新电极，目的是确定一项最好地利用新方法的议定书。根据研究结果，并与四名学术医学研究人员合作，将量化具体研究和医疗应用方面的好处。更广泛的/商业影响是，降低生物电极中的测量噪声提供了记录和区分信号的能力，这些信号太弱，目前无法测量，并将信号源定位和分离到小到无法分辨的程度。生物电极在研究和医学中被广泛用于记录身体的电活动(例如心脏、大脑和一般肌肉活动)。如果成功，这项SBIR将提供适用于许多领域的基本科学技术进步。全世界大约有1000个实验室在研究大脑的电活动，这些活动可以从改善电极的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证明，标准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，存在涉及小信号的心脏诊断的重要临床市场，例如心电图的P波和T波。

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.