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的电源的准确定位，头皮上的场必须以比标准“10-20”位置“高分辨率”(-256通道)脑电信号(HrEEG)定义的19个位置高得多的空间频率进行采样。不仅为实验目的提供更大的源发生器定位，而且可以显著提高对癫痫和中风等疾病的诊断和监测能力。此外，脑电和诱发电位指标与磁共振或CT结构图像以及功能磁共振成像(FMRI)有意义的共配准也需要高空间采样。尽管已有具有大量通道的放大器系统，但在头皮表面转换微伏级别的脑电信号的过程仍然困难，需要低而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、研磨剂或针头手工制备头皮部位以匹配放大系统的输入要求非常耗时，并且由于涉及的通道数量较多，是hrEEG应用的主要障碍。高昂的系统采集成本也在很大程度上限制了hrEEG的开发和利用。 将开发一种无需准备的高分辨率EEG系统，该系统将完全消除头皮部位的准备，而不需要使用昂贵的头上电子设备、屏蔽的记录环境或可能损害信号完整性的过度过滤。临床和实验方案的建立时间将减少到实际应用电极所需的时间，患者刺激性和擦伤期间头皮穿孔感染的风险都将消除。此外，新的hrEEG系统将通过高度紧凑的新型硬件设计大幅降低系统成本。该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。拟议的新系统将导致hrEEG在实验和临床应用中的更多使用。在第一阶段，hrEEG原型系统的技术可行性将在台式测试中进行评估，并在一个独立的大学EEG实验室进行人体实验。

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 Further, meaningful coregistration of EEG and evoked potential metrics with structural images from MRI or CT as well as functional MRI (fMRI) also requires high spatial sampling. Despite the availability of 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 is 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 preparation-free, high resolution EEG system will be developed that will entirely eliminate scalp site preparation without the use of costly on-head electronics, a shielded recording environment or excessive filtering that can compromise signal integrity. Setup time for clinical and experimental protocols would 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. In addition, the new hrEEG system will be designed to substantially lower system cost by a new type of hardware design in a highly compact form factor. The software package will feature object-oriented programmability, conferring unprecedented user control and flexibility. The proposed new system will lead to increased utilization of hrEEG for experimental and clinical applications In Phase I, the technical feasibility of a prototype hrEEG system will be evaluated in bench top tests and in human subjects at an independent, university-based EEG laboratory.