Identification of noise sources in surface recording of spinal somatosensory evoked potentials

The poor signal-to-noise ratio associated with the acquisition of evoked potentials is a well established fact. The problem is compounded if non-invasive techniques, using surface electrodes, are employed. The paper identifies several sources of noise associated with the acquisition of spinal somatosensory evoked potentials using surface electrodes. In addition, the relative contribution of these sources is determined experimentally for six spinal levels ranging from lower lumbar to upper thoracic. These data will prove useful in the design of digital signal processing schemes such as adaptive noise cancellation, where levels of uncorrelated noise severely limit system performance.