High Resolution EEG/Evoked Potential System

描述(申请人提供)：为了实现人类脑电和诱发电位电源的准确定位，头皮上的电场必须以比标准“10-20”位置定义的19个位置高得多的空间频率进行采样。高分辨率(-256通道)脑电(HrEEG)不仅为实验目的提供了更大的源发生器本地化，而且可以大幅提高对癫痫和中风等疾病的诊断和监测能力。尽管有具有大量通道的生物电势放大器系统，但在头皮表面转换微伏级别的脑电信号的过程仍然困难，需要低和平衡的接触阻抗才能达到可接受的线频(60赫兹)噪声水平。使用溶剂、研磨剂或针头手动准备头皮部位以匹配放大系统的输入要求非常耗时，并且由于所涉及的通道的数量而成为hrEEG应用的主要障碍。高昂的系统采购成本也在很大程度上抑制了hrEEG的开发和利用。将开发一种低成本、免准备、高分辨率的脑电系统，该系统将完全消除头皮部位的准备，而不使用昂贵的头上电子设备、屏蔽记录环境或可能损害信号完整性的过度过滤。临床和实验方案的设置时间将减少到实际应用电极所需的时间，同时将消除擦伤过程中头皮穿孔对患者的刺激和感染风险。新的hrEEG系统将通过实现高度紧凑外形的新型模块化硬件体系结构来设计，以大幅降低系统成本。开源软件包将具有面向对象的可编程性，赋予用户前所未有的控制权和灵活性。先进的电极帽系统将以一次性/可重复使用的电极、用户可维护性和相关的超声波清洗系统为特色，从而降低运营成本。拟议的新系统将提高hrEEG在实验和临床应用中的利用率。经过第一年的开发，hrEEG系统将在一个独立的大学EEG实验室对人体受试者进行评估。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): To achieve accurate localization of electrical sources of the human EEG and evoked potentials, the field on the scalp must be sampled at much higher spatial frequency than the 19 positions defined by the standard "10- 20" locations. "High resolution" (64-256 channel) EEG (hrEEG) not only provides greater localization of source generators for experimental purposes but can substantially improve diagnostic and monitoring capability for diseases such as epilepsy and stroke. Despite the availability of biopotential amplifier systems with large numbers of channels, the process of transducing the microvolt level cerebral electrical signals at the scalp surface remains difficult, requiring low and balanced contact impedances to achieve acceptable levels of line frequency (60 Hz) noise. Manual preparation of scalp sites using solvents, abrasives or syringe needles to match amplifier system input requirements is very time consuming and a major impediment to hrEEG application due to the number of channels involved. High system acquisition cost has also substantially inhibited the development and utilization of hrEEG. A low cost, preparation-free, high resolution EEG system will be developed that will entirely eliminate scalp site preparation without the use of costly on-head electronics, shielded recording environment or excessive filtering that can compromise signal integrity. Setup time for clinical and experimental protocols will be reduced to the time required for physical application of electrodes and patient irritation and risk of infection from scalp puncture during abrasion will both be eliminated. The new hrEEG system will be designed to substantially lower system cost by a new type of modular hardware architecture that achieves a highly compact form factor. An open-source software package will feature object-oriented programmability, conferring unprecedented user control and flexibility. An advanced electrode cap system will feature disposable/reusable electrodes, user-serviceability and an associated ultrasonic cleaning system that will reduce operational costs. The proposed new system will lead to increased utilization of hrEEG for experimental and clinical applications. Following first year development, the hrEEG system will be evaluated in human subjects at an independent, university-based EEG laboratory.