In-Ear EEG From Viscoelastic Generic Earpieces: Robust and Unobtrusive 24/7 Monitoring
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Goverdovsky, V
Looney, D
Kidmose, P
Mandic, DP
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We introduce a novel in-ear sensor which satisfies
key design requirements for wearable electroencephalography
(EEG)—it is discreet, unobtrusive, and capable of capturing
high-quality brain activity from the ear canal. Unlike our initial
designs, which utilize custom earpieces and require a costly
and time-consuming manufacturing process, we here introduce
the generic earpieces to make ear-EEG suitable for immediate
and widespread use. Our approach represents a departure from
silicone earmoulds to provide a sensor based on a viscoelastic
substrate and conductive cloth electrodes, both of which are
shown to possess a number of desirable mechanical and electrical
properties. Owing to its viscoelastic nature, such an earpiece
exhibits good conformance to the shape of the ear canal, thus
providing stable electrode–skin interface, while cloth electrodes
require only saline solution to establish low impedance contact.
The analysis highlights the distinguishing advantages compared
with the current state-of-the-art in ear-EEG. We demonstrate
that such a device can be readily used for the measurement of
various EEG responses.
key design requirements for wearable electroencephalography
(EEG)—it is discreet, unobtrusive, and capable of capturing
high-quality brain activity from the ear canal. Unlike our initial
designs, which utilize custom earpieces and require a costly
and time-consuming manufacturing process, we here introduce
the generic earpieces to make ear-EEG suitable for immediate
and widespread use. Our approach represents a departure from
silicone earmoulds to provide a sensor based on a viscoelastic
substrate and conductive cloth electrodes, both of which are
shown to possess a number of desirable mechanical and electrical
properties. Owing to its viscoelastic nature, such an earpiece
exhibits good conformance to the shape of the ear canal, thus
providing stable electrode–skin interface, while cloth electrodes
require only saline solution to establish low impedance contact.
The analysis highlights the distinguishing advantages compared
with the current state-of-the-art in ear-EEG. We demonstrate
that such a device can be readily used for the measurement of
various EEG responses.
Date Issued
2015-08-21
Date Acceptance
2015-08-19
Citation
IEEE Sensors Journal, 2015, 16 (1), pp.271-277
ISSN
1558-1748
Publisher
IEEE
Start Page
271
End Page
277
Journal / Book Title
IEEE Sensors Journal
Volume
16
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2015 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Physical Sciences
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Instruments & Instrumentation
Physics, Applied
Engineering
Physics
Electroencephalography
wearable sensors
biomedical engineering
materials
WEARABLE HEALTH
POTENTIALS
Analytical Chemistry
0906 Electrical And Electronic Engineering
0913 Mechanical Engineering
Publication Status
Published