Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is a medical imaging technique which has the potential to reduce time to treatment in acute stroke by rapidly differentiating between ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke. The potential of these methods has been demonstrated in simulation and phantoms, it has not yet successfully translated to clinical studies, due to high sensitivity to errors in scalp electrode mislocation and poor electrode-skin contact. To overcome these limitations, a novel electrode helmet was designed, bearing 32 independently controlled self-abrading electrodes. The contact impedance was reduced through rotation on an abrasive electrode on the scalp using a combined impedance, rotation and position feedback loop. Potentiometers within each unit measure the electrode tip displacement within 0.1 mm from the rigid helmet body. Characterisation experiments on a large-scale test rig demonstrated that approximately 20 kPa applied pressure and 5 rotations was necessary to achieve the target 5 kΩ contact impedance at 20 Hz. This performance was then replicated in a simplified self-contained unit where spring loaded electrodes are rotated by servo motors. Finally, a 32-channel helmet and controller which sequentially minimised contact impedance and simultaneously located each electrode was built which reduced the electrode application and localisation time to less than five minutes. The results demonstrated the potential of this approach to rapidly apply electrodes in an acute setting, removing a significant barrier for imaging acute stroke with EIT.
Keywords: bioimpedance electrodes; brain imaging; electrical impedance tomography; stroke.