STTR Phase II: High-quality, Quick-apply Electroencephalography (EEG) for Improved Diagnosis of Brain Disorders

"This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II project will produce a high‐quality, easily‐applied cap for non‐invasively measuring brain signals from the scalp by electroencephalography (EEG). This cap will reduce the setup time for an EEG procedure from 30 minutes to less than 5 minutes. This reduction in setup time will speed up procedures and reduce demand on specialized EEG technicians. Many geographic regions have wait times for EEG appointments of 4‐6 weeks; This wait will be alleviated by faster procedures and higher throughput. Additionally, the EEG cap designed in this project will increase accessibility of EEG to rural communities that don’t often have regular access to these technicians. Economically, the hospitals and clinics that perform EEG can reduce cost per procedure by reducing demand for EEG rooms and technician time. This reduction in EEG procedure costs is a small step towards controlling and reducing overall healthcare costs. This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II project is developing EEG platforms that will be used to explore new brain diagnostic algorithms. The project is introducing a novel electrode material to EEG, specifically, a soft sponge‐like material that holds water for a longer time than typical sponges, yet conducts electricity when dry. This EEG system also uses miniature printed circuit boards to hold amplifiers near each electrode. These circuit boards can be reconfigured, removing electrodes over scalp regions of recent injury or surgery. More importantly, the EEG cap resulting from this project can be scaled up (simply by adding more electrodes) to explore very high‐density EEG and novel algorithms for better diagnosing brain injuries and diseases. In particular, this project will provide hardware that enables new ways of looking at epilepsy and traumatic brain injuries. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria."