Synchronous EEG-fNIRS Brain Activity Detection System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current brain activity detection systems using EEG and fNIRS technologies face challenges such as DC drift, common mode interference, limited frequency bandwidth, and lack of synchronous data collection, leading to incomplete understanding of neural information and hindered clinical applications.
Innovation Solution
A multi-channel synchronous collection system that integrates EEG and fNIRS technologies, using a central control unit to coordinate data collection from both modalities at the same scalp location, ensuring synchronicity and high sampling frequency, with a modular design that includes a multi-functional joint collection helmet, functional near-infrared light source emission and detection modules, and brain electricity detection modules.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If EEG technology is used to collect brain electrical signals, then time resolution is improved (ms level), but DC drift and common mode interference occur that limit measurement accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines EEG and fNIRS technologies into an integrated system where EEG collects electrical signals and fNIRS collects blood oxygen metabolism signals simultaneously. This merging allows the system to overcome the limitations of single-mode detection by complementing EEG's high time resolution with fNIRS's metabolic information, while the integration enables synchronized multi-parameter brain activity detection that mitigates the harmful effects of DC drift and common mode interference through cross-validation of signals.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated system performs multiple functions: it detects both electrical activities (EEG) and blood oxygen metabolism (fNIRS) using a unified platform. This multi-functionality allows the system to address multiple measurement challenges simultaneously, providing both temporal dynamics from EEG and metabolic information from fNIRS, thereby improving overall measurement precision while compensating for the harmful factors affecting individual modalities.
2Measurement precision
If fNIRS technology is used to collect blood oxygen metabolism signals, then penetration through brain tissue is improved, but time resolution is reduced compared to EEG
Solution Approach 1:
By merging EEG and fNIRS into a single integrated system, the patent enables simultaneous collection of both electrical signals (high time resolution) and blood oxygen signals (good penetration). The synchronization mechanism ensures that both modalities work together complementarily, allowing the system to achieve both penetration capability through fNIRS and time resolution through EEG, rather than sacrificing one for the other.
3Device complexity
If separate EEG and fNIRS systems are used for collection, then system complexity is reduced, but synchronous data collection and fusion are not achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges EEG and fNIRS systems into an integrated platform with unified data acquisition and processing. This merging achieves true synchronous collection by sharing common timing and control mechanisms, ensuring that electrical and metabolic signals are collected simultaneously from the same brain regions. The integration enables reliable data fusion through coordinated sampling and synchronized processing, overcoming the limitations of separate systems while maintaining manageable complexity through modular design.
4Ease of manufacture
If single-mode measurement systems are used, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but comprehensive brain functional information is not obtained
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated system implements multi-functionality by combining EEG and fNIRS capabilities in a single platform. This allows comprehensive brain functional information to be obtained simultaneously - electrical activities from EEG and blood oxygen metabolism from fNIRS - without requiring separate single-mode systems. The universal design enables the system to perform multiple detection functions while maintaining cost-effectiveness through shared hardware and processing resources, thereby avoiding information loss that would occur with single-mode systems.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system achieves true synchronization and fusion of brain electrical and blood oxygen signals, providing rich and complementary information with matched time resolutions, enabling accurate tracking and analysis of neural activities and blood oxygen changes, and supporting long-term clinical monitoring.
Implementation Method 1
the near-infrared light can well penetrate the brain tissues. Since oxy-hemoglobin and deoxy-hemoglobin have different absorption characteristics of infrared light, the fNIRS measures changes in the intensity of light entering into the cerebral cortex and the intensity of light outcoming from the cerebral cortex tissues
Implementation Method 2
the fNIRS measures changes in the intensity of light entering into the cerebral cortex and the intensity of light outcoming from the cerebral cortex tissues after having been scattered and absorbed
Implementation Method 3
the intensity of light outcoming from the cerebral cortex tissues after having been scattered and absorbed
Implementation Method 4
The electroencephalography (EEG) technology obtains functional information of the brain mainly through measuring changes in electrical activities of the brain neurons
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for detecting brain activity may be disclosed, the method including performing multi-channel synchronous collections of brain electrical signals and cerebral cortex blood oxygen signals simultaneously and ensuring synchronicity of the collected signals among channels by collecting the signals at multiple locations simultaneously. A system may include a functional near-infrared light source emission module, which may employ the frequency division multiplexing technique. A multi-functional joint collection helmet may access the light source signal emitted from the emission module, then may be processed by a near-infrared detection module. Further, the near-infrared detection module may detect optical signals of the scalp, while a brain electricity detection module detects electrical signals of the scalp. Finally, a central control unit may synchronize data collected from the detected signals and may control a variety of functional modules and upload the data to a host computer.