# Are Reusable Dry Electrodes an Alternative to Gelled Electrodes for Canine Surface Electromyography?

## TL;DR

This study shows that reusable dry electrodes can work as well as traditional gelled ones for measuring muscle activity in dogs, without needing skin prep.

## Contribution

The paper pioneers the use of reusable dry electrodes for canine surface EMG without hair clipping.

## Key findings

- Dry electrodes provided reliable frequency-domain data and higher amplitude than gelled electrodes.
- Reusable dry electrodes reduced preparation time and avoided hair clipping.
- Signal quality from dry electrodes was broadly comparable to gelled ones despite minor differences.

## Abstract

Non-invasive assessment of muscle activity in veterinary patients can be highly advantageous, especially when dealing with neuromuscular disorders. A primary test for such a purpose is electromyography (EMG), particularly surface EMG (sEMG); however, its use in small animals is limited by the need for skin preparation and disposable electrodes. To our best knowledge, with this study, we evaluated for the first time whether reusable dry electrodes constitute a feasible alternative to conventional gel-based electrodes, through signals collected from 12 dogs during dynamic treadmill walking. Our findings show that, even without hair clipping, dry electrodes yield reliable frequency-domain data and higher amplitude readings comparatively to gel-based electrodes, offering a practical, faster, and more sustainable alternative for clinical and research use. Our results pave the way for a more widespread use of sEMG with dry electrodes in canine rehabilitation, e.g., for conditions such as intervertebral disk disease.

Despite its increasing use in veterinary rehabilitation, practical constraints—such as skin preparation and single-use electrodes—limit the wider adoption of surface electromyography (sEMG). Having conventional pre-gelled Ag/AgCl electrodes as reference, we made a pioneering comparison of the performance of reusable soft polymeric dry electrodes for recording paraspinal muscle activity in dogs during treadmill walking. Twelve clinically healthy Dachshunds from both genders were evaluated under two conditions, namely: (i) dry electrodes on untrimmed hair; and (ii) pre-gelled electrodes after trichotomy. Signals were acquired from the longissimus dorsi muscle at 1 kHz, processed with standardized filtering and rectification, and analyzed in both time and frequency domains. Dry electrodes yielded higher amplitude and Root Mean Square (RMS) values, but slightly lower power spectral density metrics when compared to pre-gelled electrodes. Nevertheless, frequency-domain results were broadly comparable between configurations. Dry electrodes reduce the preparation time, avoid hair clipping, and allow reusability without major signal degradation. While pre-gelled electrodes may still offer marginally superior stability during movement, our results suggest that soft polymeric dry electrodes present a feasible, less invasive, and more sustainable alternative for canine sEMG. These findings support further validation of dry electrodes in clinical populations, particularly for neuromuscular assessment in intervertebral disk disease.