TY - GEN
T1 - Silver Nanoparticle Modified Flexible EMG Sensors for Reduced Motion Artifacts during Dynamic Construction Environments
AU - Gautam, Yogesh
AU - Jebelli, Houtan
N1 - The work presented in this paper was supported by the National Science Foundation Award (No. 2401745, ‘Future of Construction Workplace Health Monitoring’). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - Wearable health monitoring advancements in electronics and AI offer new solutions for construction workers, who face high rates of musculoskeletal issues. Traditional EMG sensors, designed for controlled clinical settings, suffer from poor skin contact and high impedance in dynamic field environments. To overcome these limitations, we present a flexible EMG sensor featuring a serpentine-patterned design that enhances adaptability and reduces motion artifacts. Finite element analysis of five space-filling fractal geometries identified the serpentine pattern as having the largest skin contact area and lowest strain. A case study evaluated the sensor’s performance while performing construction tasks (material handling), showing marked improvements in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and a significant reduction in motion artifacts. Compared to standard commercial electrodes, the flexible sensor demonstrated up to a 37% improvement in SNR, highlighting its superior ability to deliver reliable EMG signals. This innovation holds considerable potential for improving health monitoring deployments in construction environments.
AB - Wearable health monitoring advancements in electronics and AI offer new solutions for construction workers, who face high rates of musculoskeletal issues. Traditional EMG sensors, designed for controlled clinical settings, suffer from poor skin contact and high impedance in dynamic field environments. To overcome these limitations, we present a flexible EMG sensor featuring a serpentine-patterned design that enhances adaptability and reduces motion artifacts. Finite element analysis of five space-filling fractal geometries identified the serpentine pattern as having the largest skin contact area and lowest strain. A case study evaluated the sensor’s performance while performing construction tasks (material handling), showing marked improvements in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and a significant reduction in motion artifacts. Compared to standard commercial electrodes, the flexible sensor demonstrated up to a 37% improvement in SNR, highlighting its superior ability to deliver reliable EMG signals. This innovation holds considerable potential for improving health monitoring deployments in construction environments.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105030988744
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105030988744#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1061/9780784486443.081
DO - 10.1061/9780784486443.081
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:105030988744
T3 - Computing in Civil Engineering 2025: Resilient, Robotic, and Educational Systems - Selected Papers from the ASCE International Conference on Computing in Civil Engineering 2025
SP - 740
EP - 749
BT - Computing in Civil Engineering 2025
A2 - Jafari, Amirhosein
A2 - Zhu, Yimin
PB - American Society of Civil Engineers
T2 - ASCE International Conference on Computing in Civil Engineering, i3CE 2025
Y2 - 11 May 2025 through 14 May 2025
ER -