I-Corps: Concentric Technology

传统的盘电极（CDE）脑电图是目前主要的诊断工具，用于各种脑，神经和心理疾病。然而，它的敏感性/特异性差，这是误诊的根本原因。市场需要更好的工具来了解大脑活动。表面拉普拉斯EEG通过减少由于颅骨的强衰减引起的模糊效应来增加空间分辨率。为了提高信噪比（SNR），现有的方法主要依赖于信号处理技术，而没有解决CDE的限制，这导致次优的结果。 I-Corps团队提出通过利用新一代电极，三极同心环电极（TCREs），转换电极配置以提高EEG的SNR，TCREs执行Laplacian自动从紧密间隔的电极元件获取电位的双极差。TCRE EEG的空间选择性、SNR、定位和拉普拉斯估计明显优于CDE EEG。TCREs在方向上独立于全局源，并且由于其同心配置而高度集中于局部活动，这急剧衰减了远距离信号和伪影，例如眨眼和ECG。初步临床资料显示，TCRE脑电图显示病人？TCRE EEG将填补CDE EEG无法满足的临床和研究需求。脑电图技术是医院诊断程序和术前计划的主要支柱之一。随着TCRE提供的重大技术改进，EEG作为帮助医生改善各种患者生活质量的工具的价值将继续增加。EEG技术的根本性改进将促进对各种脑部疾病和神经系统疾病（癫痫、睡眠障碍、中风、帕金森氏症、阿尔茨海默氏症等）的诊断和科学研究。并且更有效地指导神经外科和其它医疗过程。来自TCRE的增加的信号保真度可以允许检测生物标志物以用EEG量化神经障碍（例如自闭症），这在以前是不可能的。此外，TCRE EEG将改善脑机接口的性能，这可能为那些不能使用或使用肌肉有限但认知完整的人提供一种替代的通信和控制。在商业上，TCRE EEG可能会改变市场格局，并为EEG设备设定新标准。这个I-Corps奖项有可能加速创新从实验室到市场的过渡。

Conventional disc electrode (CDE) EEG is currently the primary diagnostic tool for various brain, neurological, and psychological disorders. However, it suffers from poor sensitivity/specificity, which is a root cause of misdiagnosis. The market needs a better tool for understanding brain activities. Surface Laplacian EEG increases the spatial resolution by decreasing the blurring effects due to the strong attenuation of the skull. To increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), existing methods primarily rely on signal processing techniques without addressing the limitations of CDEs, which result in suboptimal outcome. The I-Corps team proposes transforming the electrode configuration to improve the SNR of EEG by utilizing a new generation of electrodes, tripolar concentric ring electrodes (TCREs), which perform the Laplacian automatically taking bipolar differences of the potentials from closely spaced electrode elements. TCRE EEG has significantly better spatial selectivity, SNR, localization, and Laplacian estimate than CDE EEG. TCREs are directionally independent to global sources and highly focused on local activity due to their concentric configuration, which sharply attenuates distant signals and artifacts such as eye blinks and ECG. Preliminary clinical data showed that TCRE EEG revealed the patient?s brain activity during epileptic seizures which was not possible with CDE EEG.TCRE EEG will fill clinical and research needs unmet by CDE EEG. EEG technology is one of the mainstays of hospital diagnostic procedure and pre-surgical planning. With the significant technological improvement provided by the TCRE, EEG will continue to increase in value as a tool to assist doctors in improving the quality of life for a wide variety of patients. The fundamental improvement in EEG technology will advance the diagnosis of and scientific research on various brain diseases and neurological disorders (epilepsy, sleep disorders, stroke, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, etc.) and more effectively guide neurosurgical and other medical procedures. The increased signal fidelity from TCRE may allow detection of biomarkers to quantify neurological disorders (such as autism) with EEG which was not previously possible. Furthermore, TCRE EEG will improve the performance of Brain Computer Interfaces which may provide those persons who cannot use or have limited use of their muscles but are cognitively intact with an alternative for communication and control. Commercially, TCRE EEG may transform the market landscape and setting a new standard for EEG equipment. This I-Corps award has the potential to accelerate the transition of innovation from lab to market.