A Novel Design of ECG Electrode Combined with Antenna for Zig Bee-Based Wireless Measurement

This paper presents a novel and versatile ECG electrode for both ECG signal measurement and antenna in Zigbee-based bio-signal wireless system. The embedded antenna on the electrode is a low profile uniplanar antenna fed by a coplanar waveguide (CPW) fabricated on FR4 substrate. The pattern on the substrate is designed to both collect ECG signal (electrode) and transmit/receive the signal (antenna) simultaneously. The resonance frequency of the antenna is designed in the ISM band (2400 similar to 2484.5 MHz) while this Electrode-Antenna is mounted onto the shin of human chest. Experimental results indicate that ECG signal can be measured and transmitted/received by ZigBee module with only one ECG Electrode-Antenna. It is different from the conventional way which needs at least three electrodes. Furthermore, this wireless electrode measurement module can transmit ECG signal to the receiver located more than 10 meters away. Finally, with Labview, the ECG signal measured from patient can be displayed simultaneously on PC based system for long-term monitor.