Breathable, large-area epidermal electronic systems for recording electromyographic activity during operant conditioning of H-reflex
Breathable, large-area epidermal electronic systems for recording electromyographic activity during operant conditioning of H-reflex
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DOI：
10.1016/j.bios.2020.112404
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发表时间：
2020-10-01
影响因子：
12.6
通讯作者：
Yeo, Woon-Hong
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kwon, Young-Tae;Norton, James J. S.;Yeo, Woon-Hong
霍夫曼反射（H反射）的操作性条件反射是一种非侵入性和有针对性的治疗干预脊髓损伤后运动障碍的患者。反射调节协议使用肌电图（EMG）来测量使用经皮电刺激引起的特定肌肉的反射。尽管可穿戴电子产品最近取得了进展，但现有的用于测量脊髓反射操作性调节的肌肉活动的EMG系统仍然使用具有导电凝胶和侵蚀性粘合剂的刚性金属电极，同时需要精确定位以确保实验过程中数据的可靠性。在这里，我们提出了第一个大面积表皮电子系统（L-EES），并证明其使用的反射调节协议的每一步。L-EES是一种可拉伸和透气的纳米膜电极复合材料（16个电极以4 × 4阵列排列），弹性体和织物。纳米膜电极阵列使得能够从皮肤上的大表面积记录EMG，并且具有织物的透气弹性体对于患者来说是生物相容的和舒适的。我们表明，L-EES可以记录直接肌肉反应（M波）和H反射，这两者都是使用传统的EMG记录系统记录的。此外，L-EES可以改善反射调节方案;它有可能自动优化EMG电极定位，这可能会减少实验会话的设置时间和误差。
Operant conditioning of Hoffmann's reflex (H-reflex) is a non-invasive and targeted therapeutic intervention for patients with movement disorders following spinal cord injury. The reflex-conditioning protocol uses electromyography (EMG) to measure reflexes from specific muscles elicited using transcutaneous electrical stimulation. Despite recent advances in wearable electronics, existing EMG systems that measure muscle activity for operant conditioning of spinal reflexes still use rigid metal electrodes with conductive gels and aggressive adhesives, while requiring precise positioning to ensure reliability of data across experimental sessions. Here, we present the first large-area epidermal electronic system (L-EES) and demonstrate its use in every step of the reflex-conditioning protocol. The L-EES is a stretchable and breathable composite of nanomembrane electrodes (16 electrodes in a four by four array), elastomer, and fabric. The nanomembrane electrode array enables EMG recording from a large surface area on the skin and the breathable elastomer with fabric is biocompatible and comfortable for patients. We show that L-EES can record direct muscle responses (M-waves) and H-reflexes, both of which are comparable to those recorded using conventional EMG recording systems. In addition, L-EES may improve the reflex-conditioning protocol; it has potential to automatically optimize EMG electrode positioning, which may reduce setup time and error across experimental sessions.