Cancellation Method of Signal Fluctuations in Brain Function Measurements Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Biomedical Engineering
• Optical Imaging

Background:

• Accurate brain activity estimation is crucial for understanding neurological function.
• Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) offers a non-invasive method for brain monitoring.
• Skin blood volume fluctuations can interfere with NIRS signals, impacting measurement accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel cancellation method for NIRS brain probes.
• To improve the accuracy of brain function measurements by correcting for skin blood volume changes.
• To assess the effectiveness of the cancellation method under specific physiological conditions.

Main Methods:

• Developed a brain probe configuration using an equilateral triangle setup on the scalp.
• Detected 12 types of target signals between vertices and 6 types of correction signals between vertices and the center.
• Measured blood volume changes due to postural alterations and applied a correction method using three calculation techniques.
• Correction signal effectiveness was evaluated based on cross-correlation coefficients and amplitude ratios.

Main Results:

• The developed cancellation method demonstrated effectiveness in reducing signal disturbances.
• Correction signals significantly minimized the impact of skin blood volume changes on NIRS data.
• The method showed reliable performance in mitigating physiological noise during postural changes.

Conclusions:

• The proposed cancellation method enhances the accuracy of NIRS-based brain activity measurements.
• This technique offers a viable solution for correcting physiological noise in optical brain imaging.
• The findings support the use of NIRS with advanced signal processing for reliable neuroimaging.