Wearable electromyography measurement system using cable-free network system on conductive fabric

OBJECTIVE To solve the complicated wires and battery maintenance problems in the application of wearable computing for biomedical monitoring, the electromyography (EMG) measurement system using conductive fabric for power supply and electric shield for noise reduction is proposed. MATERIAL AND METHODS The basic cable-free network system using conductive fabric, named as "TextileNet" is developed. The conductive fabric has the function of electric shield for noise reduction in EMG measurement, and it enables the precise EMG measurement with wearable system. RESULTS The specifications of the developed prototype TextileNet system using wear with conductive fabric were communication speed of 9600bit/s and power supply of 3W for each device. The electric shield effect was evaluated for precise EMG measurement, and the shield efficacy of conductive fabric was estimated as high as that of shield room. CONCLUSIONS TextileNet system solves both the problems of complicated wires and battery maintenance in wearable computing systems. Conductive fabric used in TextileNet system is also effective for precise EMG measurement as electric shield. The combination of TextileNet system and EMG measurement device will implement the cable-free, battery-free wearable EMG measurement system.