On August 15, the U.S. Patent Office and Europe's WIPO published a patent application from Microsoft relating to self-dispensing electrodes. Electrodes are positioned on humans to sense electrical signals associated with various biological processes, such as heart function and/or brain function. This will lead to Brain-Computer Interfaces for work productivity and entertainment scenarios.

Microsoft's present concepts, now filed for with the patent office, provides technical solutions for the technical problems of applying conductive gel for electrodes. Any project or product with components using biological signals (electroencephalogram (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG), electro potential difference of muscle cells (EMG), etc.) can benefit from the advantages offered by the present technical solutions.

Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) are at a tipping point, and in the foreseeable future BCI will likely appear in commercial devices and impact productivity and entertainment scenarios.

The present concepts eliminate obstacles to this adoption by providing self-dispensing electrodes that include curved hollow tubes filled with electrolytic fluid. These implementations allow the user to easily place the sensing device on their body without help or training and to remove it and replace as conveniently as possible.

All of this convenience is accompanied by high performance because the automatically dispensed electrolytic fluid that decreases impedance is inherently in the correct location (e.g., aligned with the electrode) because it is dispensed from the electrode.

The present concepts provide technical solutions to automatic electrolytic fluid dispensing proximate to the tip of an electrode on the user's skin to improve signal reception by the electrode. The technical solution involves a curved hollow electrode that can store the electrolytic fluid. The curved hollow electrode can include a selective retention mechanism that dispenses the electrolytic fluid when contacting the user's skin and stops dispensing when the selective retention mechanism is removed from the user's skin.

Microsoft's patent FIG. 1A below shows the device #110 prior to being positioned on the user #102; FIG. 1B shows the device positioned on the user's head. The self-dispensing electrodes #114 are contacting the user's skin #106; FIGS. 2A and 2B collectively show details of system #100B that includes example deformable electrodes that are manifest as self-dispensing electrodes #114; FIG. 9B is alternative device.

Microsoft's patent FIG. 10A-B collectively show another system #100J. This system includes smartglasses or goggles. Self-dispensing electrodes #114 can be positioned on inwardly facing surfaces of the glasses to contact the user's skin. When the glasses are positioned on the user's head, contact pressure causes the self-dispensing electrodes #114 to begin dispensing electrolytic fluid #116.

Lastly, Microsoft's patent FIG. 11 below shows yet another system #100K. This system includes device #110, such as an elastic belt positioned on the user's thorax and device #110, such as watch positioned on the user's wrist. Inwardly facing self-dispensing electrodes #114 can contact the user's skin in these regions to sense biological signals.

For more details, review Microsoft's patent application 20240268741.