Skin-Adherent Elastomer-Hydrogel Patch for Continuous 12-Lead Cardiac Ambulatory Monitoring during Physical Activities

Continuous electrocardiography (ECG) monitoring is a necessity to prevent the sudden occurrence of cardiac events and premature death. Wearable bioelectronics provides the opportunity to realize noninvasive 12-lead ambulatory monitoring for cardiovascular disease (CVD) detection and diagnosis. This work introduces a 12-lead ECG patch that eliminates the issues associated with compliance, skin damage, and user-discomfort encountered in conventional ECG sensors. The patch is safe, stretchable, and skin-adherent with an adaptable design that allows for user-friendly ECG monitoring. These can be attributed to the unique 3-bridge patch structure, embedded liquid metal circuitry, and the wet-adhesive polyacrylamide-polydopamine-tannic acid (PAM-PDA-TA) hydrogel. The hydrogel displays improved wet adhesiveness and biosafety for long-term usage on deforming skin. The patch can acquire clean and consistent ECG signals with a higher signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio compared to commercial electrodes during both static and dynamic monitoring. The outstanding performance of the patch ascertains its potential for daily continuous ECG monitoring and remote diagnosis.