I-Corps: Concentric Technology

I-Corps：同心技术

• 批准号: 1157882
• 负责人: Walter Besio
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of Rhode Island
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-10-01 至 2013-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1157882&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Concentric; Technology

Conventional disc electrode (CDE) EEG is currently the primary diagnostic tool for various brain, neurological, and psychological disorders. However, it suffers from poor sensitivity/specificity, which is a root cause of misdiagnosis. The market needs a better tool for understanding brain activities. Surface Laplacian EEG increases the spatial resolution by decreasing the blurring effects due to the strong attenuation of the skull. To increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), existing methods primarily rely on signal processing techniques without addressing the limitations of CDEs, which result in suboptimal outcome. The I-Corps team proposes transforming the electrode configuration to improve the SNR of EEG by utilizing a new generation of electrodes, tripolar concentric ring electrodes (TCREs), which perform the Laplacian automatically taking bipolar differences of the potentials from closely spaced electrode elements. TCRE EEG has significantly better spatial selectivity, SNR, localization, and Laplacian estimate than CDE EEG. TCREs are directionally independent to global sources and highly focused on local activity due to their concentric configuration, which sharply attenuates distant signals and artifacts such as eye blinks and ECG. Preliminary clinical data showed that TCRE EEG revealed the patient?s brain activity during epileptic seizures which was not possible with CDE EEG.TCRE EEG will fill clinical and research needs unmet by CDE EEG. EEG technology is one of the mainstays of hospital diagnostic procedure and pre-surgical planning. With the significant technological improvement provided by the TCRE, EEG will continue to increase in value as a tool to assist doctors in improving the quality of life for a wide variety of patients. The fundamental improvement in EEG technology will advance the diagnosis of and scientific research on various brain diseases and neurological disorders (epilepsy, sleep disorders, stroke, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, etc.) and more effectively guide neurosurgical and other medical procedures. The increased signal fidelity from TCRE may allow detection of biomarkers to quantify neurological disorders (such as autism) with EEG which was not previously possible. Furthermore, TCRE EEG will improve the performance of Brain Computer Interfaces which may provide those persons who cannot use or have limited use of their muscles but are cognitively intact with an alternative for communication and control. Commercially, TCRE EEG may transform the market landscape and setting a new standard for EEG equipment. This I-Corps award has the potential to accelerate the transition of innovation from lab to market.

传统盘电极（CDE）脑电图目前是各种大脑、神经和心理疾病的主要诊断工具。然而，它的敏感性/特异性较差，这是误诊的根本原因。市场需要更好的工具来理解大脑活动。表面拉普拉斯脑电图通过减少由于头骨强烈衰减而产生的模糊效应来提高空间分辨率。为了提高信噪比 (SNR)，现有方法主要依赖于信号处理技术，而没有解决 CDE 的局限性，从而导致结果不理想。 I-Corps 团队建议通过利用新一代电极——三极同心环电极（TCRE）来改变电极配置，以提高脑电图的信噪比，TCRE 可以自动执行拉普拉斯算子，从紧密间隔的电极元件中获取电势的双极差。 TCRE EEG 的空间选择性、SNR、定位和拉普拉斯估计明显优于 CDE EEG。 TCRE 在方向上独立于全球信号源，并且由于其同心配置而高度关注本地活动，这会急剧衰减远处的信号和伪影，例如眨眼和心电图。初步临床数据表明，TCRE EEG 可以揭示患者癫痫发作期间的大脑活动，这是 CDE EEG 无法实现的。TCRE EEG 将填补 CDE EEG 无法满足的临床和研究需求。脑电图技术是医院诊断程序和术前计划的支柱之一。随着 TCRE 提供的重大技术改进，脑电图作为帮助医生改善各种患者生活质量的工具的价值将继续增加。脑电技术的根本性改进将推动各种脑部疾病和神经系统疾病（癫痫、睡眠障碍、中风、帕金森病、阿尔茨海默病等）的诊断和科学研究，更有效地指导神经外科和其他医疗程序。 TCRE 提高的信号保真度可能允许通过脑电图检测生物标志物来量化神经系统疾病（例如自闭症），这在以前是不可能的。此外，TCRE EEG 将提高脑机接口的性能，这可能为那些无法使用或限制使用肌肉但认知能力完好的人提供一种沟通和控制的替代方案。从商业角度来看，TCRE EEG 可能会改变市场格局，并为 EEG 设备设立新标准。 I-Corps 奖项有可能加速创新从实验室到市场的转变。