Hardware Technology for Point-of-Care EEG: A Comprehensive Review

Rapid or point-of-care (POC) EEG devices, bolstered by advancements in portability, ease of use, wireless technology, and artificial intelligence, are transforming the EEG field. Increasing demand for immediate neurophysiologic diagnosis, previously limited by the operational complexities and specialized personnel required for traditional EEG, has driven these critical shifts. These innovations extend EEG's reach beyond traditional neurophysiology labs to diverse clinical settings, including emergency departments, intensive care units, remote locations, and homes. POC EEG is particularly valuable for diagnosing acute neurologic emergencies such as nonconvulsive status epilepticus and nonconvulsive seizures, traumatic brain injury, and stroke, enabling faster seizure detection, improved triage, and timely treatment. POC EEG systems facilitate rapid acquisition of clinically acceptable EEG by nonexperts, including physicians and other health care providers, emergency personnel, nurses, and in some cases, remote caregivers and patients. Bedside interpretation is augmented by real-time artificial intelligence algorithms. POC EEG hardware, including its sensors, headsets, amplifiers, connectivity, form factor, and power, diverges significantly from conventional EEG systems. These modifications are explicitly engineered to optimize rapid deployment, patient comfort, and operational simplicity in resource-constrained or time-sensitive scenarios. The adaptations, however, may necessitate trade-offs in signal quality, flexibility, channel count, reliability, and cost compared with laboratory-grade systems. Understanding these inherent differences and how hardware designs address them is critical for selecting the optimal POC EEG technology for a specific use.