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3D printing of soft sEMG sensing structures

Wolterink, G.J.W. (2017) 3D printing of soft sEMG sensing structures.

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Abstract:This thesis describes the development and characterization of soft and flexible 3D printed sEMG electrodes. These electrodes are printed in one go on a low cost consumer multi-material FDM printer. The printed structures do not need any further production steps to give it conductive properties. The sensing structures are made from TPU, the conductive parts use a carbon doped TPU. Stretch tests on the conductive materials have been performed to characterize the piezoresistive properties of the material. To get insight in the contact resistance, several connection methods have been tested on two types of carbon doped TPU. Comparison between the gold standard Ag/AgCl gel electrodes and the 3D printed EMG electrodes with a comparable contact area, show that there is no significant di↵erence in the EMG signals amplitude and bandwidth. The sensors are capable of distinguishing several levels of muscle activity of the biceps brachii. Tests on the influence of the size and shape of the printed electrodes showed that electrodes with a diameter of 5mm are still able to obtain EMG signals of some individuals. This work shows that 3D printed sEMG electrodes have a high potential for creating personalized sensing structures that are scalable in size and number of electrodes. This is of interest for applications in e.g. prosthetic and orthotic contexts.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:EEMCS: Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Subject:53 electrotechnology
Programme:Electrical Engineering MSc (60353)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/89245
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