Objective:Concealable, miniaturized electroencephalo-graphy ('mini-EEG') recording devices are crucial enablers towards long-term ambulatory EEG monitoring. However, the resulting miniaturization limits the inter-electrode distance and the scalp area that can be covered by a single device. The concept of wireless EEG sensor networks (WESNs) attempts to overcome this limitation by placing a multitude of these mini-EEG devices at various scalp locations. We investigate whether optimizing the WESN topology can compensate for miniaturization effects in an auditory attention detection (AAD) paradigm. Methods: Starting from standard full-cap high-density EEG data, we emulate several candidate mini-EEG sensor nodes which locally collect EEG data with embedded electrodes separated by short distances. We propose a greedy group-utility based channel selection strategy to select a subset of these candidate nodes, to form a WESN. We compare the AAD performance of this WESN with the performance obtained using long-distance EEG recordings. Results: The AAD performance using short-distance EEG measurements is comparable to using an equal number of long-distance EEG measurements if in both cases the optimal electrode positions are selected. A significant increase in performance was found when using nodes with three electrodes over nodes with two electrodes. Conclusion: When the nodes are optimally placed, WESNs do not significantly suffer from EEG miniaturization effects in the case of AAD. Significance: WESN-like platforms allow to achieve similar AAD performance as with long-distance EEG recordings, while adhering to the stringent miniaturization constraints for ambulatory EEG. Their applicability in an AAD task is important for the design of neuro-steered auditory prostheses.
Objective. Unobtrusive electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring in everyday life requires the availability of highly miniaturized EEG devices (mini-EEGs), which ideally consist of a wireless node with a small scalp area footprint, in which the electrodes, amplifier and wireless radio are embedded. By attaching a multitude of mini-EEGs at relevant positions on the scalp, a wireless 'EEG sensor network' (WESN) can be formed. However, each mini-EEG in the network only has access to its own local electrodes, thereby recording local scalp potentials with short inter-electrode distances. This is unlike using traditional cap-EEG, which by the virtue of re-referencing can measure EEG across arbitrarily large distances on the scalp. We evaluate the implications and limitations of such far-driven miniaturization on neural decoding performance. Approach. We collected 255-channel EEG data in an auditory attention decoding (AAD) task. As opposed to previous studies with a lower channel density, this new high-density dataset allows emulation of mini-EEGs with inter-electrode distances down to 1 cm in order to identify and quantify the lower bound on miniaturization for EEG-based stimulus decoding. Main results. We demonstrate that the performance remains reasonably stable for inter-electrode distances down to 3 cm, but decreases quickly for shorter distances if the mini-EEG nodes can be placed at optimal scalp locations and orientations selected by a data-driven algorithm. Significance. The results indicate the potential for the use of mini-EEGs in a WESN context for AAD applications and provide guidance on inter-electrode distances while designing such devices for neuro-steered hearing devices.
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