LIGHT PORTABLE EEG/EVOKED POTENTIAL DEVICE

A LIGHTWEIGHT, PORTABLE, MULTICHANNEL ELECTROPHYSICAL SYSTEM THAT PROVIDES FEATURES NECESSARY FOR FULL-SCALE, ROUTINE CLINICAL EEG AND EVOKED POTENTIAL PROCEDURES (RANGING FROM BRAINSTEM RESPONSES TO LONG LATENCY ERPS) WOULD FIND A WIDE RANGE OF APPLICATIONS IN: HOSPITALS AND MEDICAL SERVICE CENTERS FOR EASY-ACCESS BEDSIDE MONITORING; FIELD RECORDING IN RESIDENTIAL SITES; AND RECORDING IN ENVIRONMENTS WHERE EITHER COMPLETE BATTERY POWER OR COMPLETE ELECTRICAL ISOLATON IS NECESSARY (E. G. INTENSIVE CARE UNITS). THIS TYPE OF DEVICE WOULD ALSO MAKE OUTPATIENT EVALUATIONS AND SCREENING FEASIBLE. BECAUSE OF THE RANGE OF FEATURES AND CAPACITIES, THE NEW DEVICE WILL ALSO BE SUITABLE FOR EXPERIMENTAL APPLICATIONS IN CLINICAL, HOME, FIELD AND OTHER REMOTE SETTINGS. THE SYSTEM WILL FEATURE: 32 AMPLIFIER CHANNELS (24-EEG/EP/ERP;4-EOG, EMG, EKG; 1-SKIN CONDUCTANCE; 1-RESPIRATION AND 2-EXTERNAL INSTRUMENTATION); USER-ADJUSTABLE ANALOG AND DIGITAL (FINITE IMPULSE RESPONSE) FILTERING; AUTOMATIC IMPEDANCE CHECKING AND AUTOMATIC AMPLIFIER CALIBRATION; INTEGRATED NOTEBOOK-TYPE COMPUTER (20 MHZ80386) WITH HIGH RESOLUTION VGA DISPLAY; 450 MB OF DATA STORAGE CAPACITY; HIGH-SPEED DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR; AND DOS-BASED OPERATING SYSTEM. THE ENTIRE SYSTEM WILL WEIGH LESS THAN 20 POUNDS WITH PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS THAT APPROXIMATE AN ATTACHE CASE AND WILL INITIALLY BE CAPABLE OF 4-5 HOURS OF OPERATION ON BATTERIES ALONE. THE SYSTEM'S FUNCTIONAL CAPACITIES FOR DISPLAYING, COLLECTING, STORING AND ANALYZING DATA WILL BE TESTED TO DEMONSTRATE COMPLETION OF OBJECTIVES. THE LIMITS OF BATTERY-POWERED SYSTEM OPERATION WILL BE TESTED UNDER VARIOUS OPERATING MODES.