Leuven (Belgium) and Eindhoven (the Netherlands) – Nov. 13, 2014 – At next week’s Neuroscience 2014, held Nov. 15-19 in Washington, D.C.,), nanoelectronics research center imec and Holst Centre will present their next-generation wireless electroencephalography (EEG) headset achieving increased EEG data quality. The headset combines dry electrodes with integrated skin-to-electrode impedance monitoring to provide information about the contact quality throughout the entire EEG recording. Unique signal processing is integrated to cancel out motion artefacts. This breakthrough technology paves the way to wireless EEG monitoring solutions for environments without specialized technical assistance, such as at family doctors, psychiatrists, paramedic care, ICU or even at home.
EEG measurements are routinely performed by medical specialists in hospitals, as part of medical diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders, such as epileptic seizures, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) treatment, or in ICU or ER environments after severe head injury. Outside the domain of the medical specialists, EEG monitoring could be extremely relevant in revalidation therapy, sleep training or cognitive enhancement for use at home. However, such applications are not widely adopted today, due to the difficulty of reliable EEG measuring outside controlled environments. Improper mounting of the electrodes and artefacts induced by motion and muscle activity may lead to inaccurate conclusions. In today’s clinical practice, the electrical electrode-to-skin impedance is measured before the EEG recording, and electrodes are carefully adjusted until they all have a proper electrical contact to the skin. During recording, patients are instructed to avoid any kind of motion, especially the one that involves head and jaw movements.
Imec and Holst Centre will present a wireless EEG headset that combines EEG monitoring with continuous measuring of the electrical impedance between the skin and the electrodes, providing information on the contact quality throughout the entire EEG recording. Moreover, imec/Holst Centre developed a motion artifact handling approach based on band-pass and adaptive filtering. It substantially reduces the contamination of the EEG recordings due to motion and it can operate in real-time. These promising results are a significant step toward the development of wireless EEG systems with dry electrodes that can be used in daily life.
This press release can be downloaded at http://www2.imec.be/be_en/press/imec-news/imec-EEG-impedance-monitoring.html
About imec
Imec performs world-leading research in nanoelectronics and photovoltaics. Imec leverages its scientific knowledge with the innovative power of its global partnerships in ICT, healthcare and energy. Imec delivers industry-relevant technology solutions. In a unique high-tech environment, its international top talent is committed to providing the building blocks for a better life in a sustainable society. Imec is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, and has offices in the Netherlands, Taiwan, US, China, India and Japan. Its staff of over 2,080 people includes more than 670 industrial residents and guest researchers. In 2013, imec’s revenue (P&L) totaled 332 million euro. Further information on imec can be found at www.imec.be. Stay up to date about what’s happening at imec with the monthly imec magazine, available for tablets and smartphones (as an app for iOS and Android), or via the website www.imec.be/imecmagazine
Imec is a registered trademark for the activities of IMEC International (a legal entity set up under Belgian law as a “stichting van openbaar nut”), imec Belgium (IMEC vzw supported by the Flemish Government), imec the Netherlands (Stichting IMEC Nederland, part of Holst Centre which is supported by the Dutch Government), imec Taiwan (IMEC Taiwan Co.)and imec China (IMEC Microelectronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.) and imec India (Imec India Private Limited).
About Holst Centre
Holst Centre is an independent open-innovation R&D centre that develops generic technologies for Wireless Autonomous Transducer Solutions and for Systems-in-Foil. A key feature of Holst Centre is its partnership model with industry and academia around shared roadmaps and programs. It is this kind of cross-fertilization that enables Holst Centre to tune its scientific strategy to industrial needs.
Holst Centre was set up in 2005 by imec (Flanders, Belgium) and TNO (The Netherlands) with support from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Government of Flanders. It is named after Gilles Holst, a Dutch pioneer in Research and Development and first director of Philips Research.
Located on High Tech Campus Eindhoven, Holst Centre benefits from the state-of-the-art on-site facilities. Holst Centre has over 180 employees from around 28 nationalities and a commitment from more than 45 industrial partners.
Visit us at www.holstcentre.com
