From the perspective of material science: a review of flexible electrodes for brain-computer interface

Abstract

As an important branch of man-machine interaction, Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) has the potential to be widely used in various fields, such as health-care, physical efficiency, aerospace, intelligence traffic system, entertainment and so on. The flexible electrode is the crucial component of the BCI, and is the key for the development of the BCI technology. Recently, with the increasing demands on Brain-Computer Interface, plenty of flexible electrode materials and the structural design for applications in BCI technology have been developed. In this study, we review the development of the three kinds of flexible electrodes material selection and structural design in BCI, including non-intrusive electrodes, intrusive electrodes and semi-intrusive electrodes. The challenge and the problems that hinder the development of the flexible electrode are analyzed. Besides, from the perspective of material science, the future applications of the flexible electrode in the BCI field is prospected.

Keywords

• brain-computer interface
• flexible electrodes
• non-intrusive electrodes
• intrusive electrodes
• semi-intrusive electrodes