Electrode and a Method for Determining Electrical Biopotentials

Abstract

A set of electrodes suitable for being attached to the skin of an animal or human being at locations normally used for attaching single-lead electrodes with a single sensor point. The electrodes of the set of electrodes have at least three sensors arranged to define two linearly independent directions, which allows sensing corresponding electrical potential differences in the two directions. Signals representing sensed potential differences can be transmitted wirelessly or via conductors to a processing apparatus for being transformed into electrical potentials that approximate traditional potentials obtained with wired single-sensor electrodes. A method is also presented.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The invention relates to sensing of electric surface potentials by means of electrodes attached to the skin of an animal or human being. Such uses include in particular electrocardiography (ECG), electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG).BACKGROUND[0002]When measuring ECG, EEG and EMG a plurality of electrodes, each of which have a sensor, are attached to the skin of an animal or human patient. Each sensor on each electrode senses the electrical potential at a relatively small area—typically a few mm in diameter—on the skin immediately below the sensor. Usually an electrically conductive contact medium is used between the sensor and the skin. The sensed electrical potentials are transmitted through individual conductors to an apparatus, which measures, registers and / or evaluates the sensed potentials, e.g. by determining differences between electrical potentials at the electrodes and linear combinations thereof. Such systems have long been u...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0016]The invention offers a solution to this problem by presenting a new type of electrode set, a new method for measuring an ECG signal and a new system for measuring an ECG signal The disposable electrode set of the current invention is suitable for being attached to the skin of an animal or human being at locations normally used for attaching single-lead electrodes with a single sensor point.

Problems solved by technology

However, no information is provided with respect to the standard ECG or to the direction of the change of the field.

This dependency on a reference point(s) limits the possibilities of transmitting the signal of a single electrode over a non-reference transmission line, e.g. wirelessly.

With several electrodes and a corresponding number of individual conductors there is a risk of confusing the conductors and of connecting sensors to wrong inputs of the apparatus.

Such systems also have conductors that restrict the freedom and the mobility of the patient.

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