Abstract
Global disasters are occurring with increasing frequency, and the stable acquisition of physiological electrical signals from injured individuals is crucial in emergency rescue operations. Conventional patch electrodes are susceptible to signal distortion due to skin contamination and body movement, and their poor breathability often causes discomfort, making them inadequate for rescue scenarios. This study proposes a highly robust surface electrode based on semi-liquid metal (SLM) fibers. The electrode employs pre-stretched elastic fibers as the substrate, coated with SLM to achieve high electrical conductivity, and utilizes wrapping-induced constriction force to enhance fixation. The SLM fiber electrode is not affected by skin contaminants and can be tightly wrapped around multiple limb parts. The wrapped structure of the fiber electrode provides high breathability, preventing skin irritation, and allows rapid and efficient deployment. In practical applications, this SLM fiber electrode facilitates the reliable acquisition of electrocardiogram (ECG) signals, enabling the monitoring in emergency situations as well as continuous and comfortable ECG monitoring after surgery, and provides an innovative solution for emergency medical monitoring.
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Data availability
The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to [The dataset is still being used for subsequent related research and has not yet undergone complete collation and validation to ensure its accuracy and integrity.] but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 62304150) and the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2024YFC3016604).
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All authors have read and approved the manuscript. R.G., H.F. and Y.L. conceived and designed the project; X.L. (Xiaotong Liu), H.X., L.C., X.L. (Xin Lyu) and X.W. performed the experiments; X.L. (Xiaotong Liu) and H.X. analyzed the data. R.G., X.L. (Xiaotong Liu), H.X., H.F. and Y.L. wrote and revised the article.
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Liu, X., Xu, H., Chen, L. et al. Highly robust ECG electrodes constructed from semi-liquid metal fibers for reliable emergency rescue monitoring. npj Flex Electron (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-026-00556-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-026-00556-2
