New disposable forehead electrode set with excellent signal quality and imaging compatibility

Abstract

The use of emergency electroencephalography (EEG) in clinical practice is limited in part due to the lack of commercially available EEG monitoring sets that are suitable for rapid and simple use. The aim of this study was to develop a rapid and simple-to-use disposable forehead EEG electrode set for routine use that is also suitable for long-term monitoring. The EEG set we developed consists of 12 hydrogel-coated electrodes (10 recording electrodes, plus a reference and ground electrode) attached to a solid polymer film. The developed EEG set was compared to the full conventional 10-20 electrode setup in terms of the ability to detect epileptiform abnormalities in two critically ill patients. The technical quality of the EEG signal from the newly developed electrode set was excellent, and status epilepticus was reliably detected with this EEG set. Electric performance testing showed that the impedance spectra of the developed EEG electrodes were comparable to those of three commercially available, disposable electrodes, and the noise level was lower than that of the commercial electrodes. The developed EEG set is also MRI and CT compatible and lacks any signs of imaging artefacts or heat induction. These promising results provide a reason to expect that the developed EEG set may be applicable to situations in which the full, conventional 10-20 electrode setup is not available.