Simultaneous EEG-fMRI: evaluating the effect of the cabling configuration on the gradient artefact

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Biomedical Engineering
• Signal Processing

Background:

• Electroencephalography-functional magnetic resonance imaging (EEG-fMRI) is a powerful technique for studying brain activity.
• Gradient artifacts (GAs) are a major challenge in EEG-fMRI, corrupting EEG signals due to interactions between the EEG system and MRI gradients.
• The contribution of EEG connecting cables to GAs is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of different EEG connecting cable configurations on the characteristics of gradient artifacts (GAs) during EEG-fMRI.
• To compare the GA generated by a ribbon cable versus a twisted-pair cable arrangement.
• To assess the impact of cable configuration on GA magnitude and variability.

Main Methods:

• Gradient artifacts (GAs) were measured using two cable configurations: a ribbon cable and a twisted-pair cable.
• GAs were elicited by applying gradient pulses along three orthogonal axes.
• The effect of each cable configuration on GAs generated by a multi-slice echo planar imaging (EPI) sequence was characterized.

Main Results:

• The cable configuration significantly influences the magnitude and characteristics of GAs in EEG-fMRI.
• A ribbon cable configuration generated larger GAs compared to a twisted-pair cable arrangement.
• Variations in cable position led to greater changes in GAs for the ribbon cable than for the twisted cable.

Conclusions:

• EEG connecting cables contribute significantly to gradient artifacts (GAs) in EEG-fMRI.
• Twisted-pair cable configurations are preferable to ribbon cables for reducing GAs in EEG-fMRI.
• Optimizing cable configuration is essential for improving the quality of EEG data acquired during simultaneous fMRI.