Sevo Electrodes Outperform Traditional Electrodes in EEG Quality for Coarse, Curly Hair
Abstract number :
3.17
Submission category :
3. Neurophysiology / 3C. Other Clinical EEG
Year :
2022
Submission ID :
2204834
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/5/2022 12:00:00 PM
Published date :
Nov 22, 2022, 05:26 AM
Authors :
Apoorva Mahajan, MS – Carnegie Mellon University; Evangeline Mensah-Agyekum, BS – Carnegie Mellon University; Christina Patterson, MD – Pediatric Neurology – University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; Pulkit Grover, PhD – Electrical and Computer Engineering – Carnegie Mellon University; Jasmine Kwasa, PhD – Neuroscience Institute – Carnegie Mellon University
This abstract has been invited to present during the Broadening Representation Inclusion and Diversity by Growing Equity (BRIDGE) poster session
Rationale: To provide quality care for all, it is pivotal that we develop effective EEG solutions for individuals of all hair types. In our previous work, we provided the outline of a novel EEG system – “Sevo electrodes” – that works more effectively than traditional EEG systems for individuals with coarse, curly hair [Etienne et al., 2020]. We also compared the performance of Sevo Electrodes against gold cup electrodes used in a clinical setting. Here, we expand on this work and seek to use a new metric – susceptibility to line noise – and use it to demonstrate how the integration of Sevo systems outperforms traditional electrodes in a standard clinical setting at the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Epilepsy Center and also in a research setting using the Biosemi recording systems.
Methods: We evaluated the clinical viability of Sevo adapters with 6 pediatric participants with epilepsy by assessing signal quality improvements over clinical standard gold-cup electrodes. Various metrics were used to qualitatively compare the electrodes: (1) fraction of time for which data were “acceptable”, e.g., not contaminated by instrumentation artifacts or noise; (2) how pronounced the alpha power (8-12 Hz) peak was over surrounding frequencies in the EEG power spectrum; (3) the frequency at which the spectrum ceases to decay as 1/f; and (4) localization of alpha power in the occipital region. _x000D_
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Separately, we also assessed signal quality differences between Sevo adapters and standard research-grade electrodes in a heavily controlled lab setting. One neurotypical adult volunteer with Type 4C (very curly, dense, and thick) hair was monitored in 3 conditions: (1) flat Biosemi electrodes attached with tape on unbraided hair (mimicking clinical standards); (2) Biosemi electrodes embedded in a cap with unbraided hair (mimicking research standards); and (3) Biosemi electrodes with Sevo adapters with hair braided to expose the scalp consistent with the 10-20 arrangement. In addition to the first four metrics, we also assessed susceptibility of the system to line noise.
Results: In agreement with previous work, Sevo adapters outperformed the gold cup standard in the pediatric epilepsy center on all 4 metrics. In our lab setting, Sevo electrodes with braiding showed less susceptibility to powerline noise – which can introduce distortion in the EEG and hence negatively affect their interpretation – outperforming the other two conditions: with cap and with flat electrodes.
Conclusions: We have shown an improvement in EEG quality for coarse, curly hair by using Sevo electrodes in both real-world clinical monitoring and in a controlled lab setting. We are steps closer to mitigating potential racial biases in this invaluable technology.
Funding: JK by NINDS under K00NS115331; work supported by CMU Block Center, Chuck Noll Foundation, and the National Science Foundation
Neurophysiology