Abstract
The increased popularity of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) has created a new demand for miniaturized and low-cost electroencephalogram (EEG) acquisition devices for entertainment, rehabilitation, and scientific needs. The lack of scientific analysis for such system design, modularity, and unified validation tends to suppress progress in this field and limit supply for new low-cost device availability. To eliminate this problem, this paper presents the design and evaluation of a compact, modular, battery powered, conventional EEG signal acquisition board based on an ADS1298 analog front-end chip. The introduction of this novel, vertically stackable board allows the EEG scaling problem to be solved by effectively reconfiguring hardware for small or more demanding applications. The ability to capture 16 to 64 EEG channels at sample rates from 250 Hz to 1000 Hz and to transfer raw EEG signal over a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi interface was implemented. Furthermore, simple but effective assessment techniques were used for system evaluation. While conducted tests confirm the validity of the system against official datasheet specifications and for real-world applications, the proposed quality verification methods can be further employed for analyzing other similar EEG devices in the future. With 6.59 microvolts peak-to-peak input referred noise and a −97 dB common mode rejection ratio in 0–70 Hz band, the proposed design can be qualified as a low-cost precision cEEG research device.
Highlights
The increasing awareness of brain–computer interfaces (BCI) for brain signal analysis has sparked new interest in electroencephalogram (EEG) acquisition device development
With respect to the previously mentioned problems, this paper presents a new low-cost modular and vertically stackable development board that can be used for entry-level EEG signal acquisition
The ADS1298/9 is a device [22] for biopotential measurements and medical instrumentation (electrocardiogram (ECG), electromyogram (EMG) and EEG) with eight low-noise, programmable gain amplifiers (PGAs) and eight high 24-bit resolution Delta-Sigma analog-to-digital converters (ADCs)
Summary
The increasing awareness of brain–computer interfaces (BCI) for brain signal analysis has sparked new interest in electroencephalogram (EEG) acquisition device development. Professional and high-quality EEG capture systems are available from multiple vendors such as G.Tec and TMSi, etc Due to their more than four thousand US dollar price (Table 1), these devices are not meant for general public use or entry-level development and, prevent wider BCI adoption and research. EEG systems allowing the scaling and reconfiguration of hardware based on problem requirements (up to 64 or more channels). Achieving this would help manage and reduce complexity and minimize runtime costs. With respect to the previously mentioned problems, this paper presents a new low-cost modular and vertically stackable development board that can be used for entry-level EEG signal acquisition. Final conclusions and directions for the future are presented in the last Section 6
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