Abstract
In clinical practice, it is recommended to employ reusable electrodes for the registration of brain waves. Before registering EEG signals, the EEG technician checks the condition of all the electrodes, i.e., the occurrence of mechanical damage and the color of the electrode coating. It should be noticed that there is still no information on the permissible number of EEG examinations performed with one set of electrodes. After placement of the electrodes on the patient’s head, the scalp–electrode impedance is measured with the use of EEG equipment. When the scalp–electrode impedance achieves a value above 5 kΩ, it is necessary to replace the given electrode or to re-execute skin abrasion. The Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) method was used in order to estimate the permissible number of EEG examinations performed with one set of electrodes. Ten new reusable electrodes were tested. Then, the tests were repeated after subsequent uses of those electrodes. The conducted tests led us to the conclusion that the permissible number of examinations performed with one set of electrodes is up to twenty except for the gold electrodes for which it is up to ten. Furthermore, the use of the EIS method revealed variability of impedance in the case of new electrodes.
Highlights
Electroencephalography as a functional method for studying brain electrical activity is still the basic diagnostic tool in neurology
The conducted tests led us to the conclusion that the permissible number of examinations performed with one set of electrodes is up to twenty except for the gold electrodes for which it is up to ten
All of the tested gold electrodes are silver electrodes with a 3 μm thick 24 k gold tests were conducted on only ten electrodes of each type, we indicated the permissible number of performed EEG examinations
Summary
Electroencephalography as a functional method for studying brain electrical activity is still the basic diagnostic tool in neurology. Electrodes are proposed that do not require additional usage of a conductive paste or gel [8,9,10,11,12,13]. Not all proposed electrodes can be used to record EEG signals [3,6]. Pure silver electrodes are distinguished by the possibility of their polarization, but their resistance for the slow EEG frequencies (i.e., below 10 Hz) rises exponentially, and it leads to a distortion of the EEG signal [6]. For that reason, they are preferred for measurements of evoked potentials. The thickness of the Sensors 2019, 19, 2608; doi:10.3390/s19112608 www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors
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