The evaluation of cEEGrids for fatigue detection in aviation

Operator fatigue poses a major concern in safety-critical industries such as aviation, potentially increasing the chances of errors and accidents. To better understand this risk, there is a need for noninvasive objective measures of fatigue. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of cEEGrids, a type of ear-EEG, for fatigue detection by analyzing the alpha and theta power before and after sleep restriction in four sessions on two separate days, employing a within-participants design. Results were compared to traditional, highly validated methods: the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) and Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT). After sleep restriction and an office workday, 12 participants showed increased alpha band power in multiple electrode channels, but no channels correlated with KSS scores and PVT response speed. These findings indicate that cEEGrids can detect differences in alpha power following mild sleep loss. However, it should be noted that this capability was limited to specific channels, and no difference in theta power was observed. The study shows the potential and limitations of ear-EEG for fatigue detection as a less invasive alternative to cap-EEG. Further design and electrode configuration adjustments are necessary before ear-EEG can be implemented for fatigue detection in the field.