EEG electrode digitization with commercial virtual reality hardware.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Accurate spatial co-registration of electroencephalography (EEG) electrode positions with individual head models is crucial for EEG source localization and imaging.
• Individual head shape variations necessitate precise electrode location measurements for each subject.
• Current digitization hardware is accurate but often prohibitively expensive for many research labs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an accessible, open-source software tool for EEG electrode digitization.
• To utilize inexpensive consumer virtual reality (VR) hardware for this purpose.
• To evaluate the performance of the developed system against existing commercial solutions.

Main Methods:

• Development of the VRDigitizer system, an open-source software tool.
• Integration with consumer-grade virtual reality hardware for electrode digitization.
• Comparative experimental evaluations using a phantom head model and 12 human subjects.

Main Results:

• The VRDigitizer system achieved a mean error of 3.74 mm in measuring electrode positions.
• Performance was compared against commercial digitization systems with mean errors of 1.73 mm and 2.98 mm.
• The developed system demonstrates a viable, more accessible alternative for EEG digitization.

Conclusions:

• The VRDigitizer system provides a cost-effective and accessible solution for accurate EEG electrode digitization.
• This open-source tool can enhance the feasibility of precise EEG source localization and imaging in diverse research settings.
• The system's performance is comparable to commercial solutions, making advanced neuroimaging techniques more attainable.