Wearable ear EEG for brain interfacing

Abstract

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) measuring electrical activity via electroencephalogram (EEG) have evolved beyond clinical applications to become wireless consumer products. Typically marketed for meditation and neurotherapy, these devices are limited in scope and currently too obtrusive to be a ubiquitous wearable. Stemming from recent advancements made in hearing aid technology, wearables have been shrinking to the point that the necessary sensors, circuitry, and batteries can be fit into a small in-ear wearable device. In this work, an ear-EEG device is created with a novel system for artifact removal and signal interpretation. The small, compact, cost-effective, and discreet device is demonstrated against existing consumer electronics in this space for its signal quality, comfort, and usability. A custom mobile application is developed to process raw EEG from each device and display interpreted data to the user. Artifact removal and signal classification is accomplished via a combination of support matrix machines (SMMs) and soft thresholding of relevant statistical properties.

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{schroeder2017,
  location = {San Francisco},
  author = {Schroeder, Eric D. and Walker, Nicholas and Danko, Amanda S.},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of SPIE 10051, Neural Imaging and Sensing},
  doi = {10.1117/12.2249416},
  editor = {Luo, Qingming and Ding, Jun},
  isbn = {9781510605435},
  issn = {16057422},
  month = feb,
  title = {Wearable ear EEG for brain interfacing},
  year = {2017},
  wwwtype = {conference}
}