Breathable Hydrogel-Fabric Electrodes for Wearable Myoelectric Signal Detection

Surface electromyography (sEMG) is a fundamental modality for decoding human motor intention and plays a critical role in human-machine interactions and precision rehabilitation. Conventional Ag/AgCl wet electrodes suffer from electrolyte dehydration and skin irritation during long-term use, while dry textile electrodes are limited by high skin electrode impedance and pronounced motion artifacts. To address these challenges, we propose a breathable hydrogel textile electrode system that integrates the conductive polyelectrolyte hydrogel into embroidered textile electrodes via in situ curing. The system establishes a stable ion–electron coupling interface while preserving the intrinsic permeability of textile substrates. By integrating a moss-stitch microstructure with serpentine interconnects, the design accommodates local deformation and reduces motion-induced artifacts during gesture execution. Experiments on the forearm array show that the signal-to-noise ratio reaches up to 24.87 during maximal voluntary contraction, while the baseline remains stable during forearm deformation associated with gesture execution. These results demonstrate that the proposed architecture improves signal fidelity and offers a practical solution for long-term and comfortable wearable sEMG monitoring.