Ultracortex III - Failed Assembly (Help!)

brainchibrainchi Chicago
edited May 2019 in Headware
Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum. Last year, I purchased a Cyton board and self-assembled a headset using the Ultracortex III specs and using dry electrodes. I put everything together, but I'm facing two challenges rendering my headset unusable.

1. The nodes/electrodes seem too stiff. My head hurts from just wearing the headset, unless I push the nodes more out, at which point the electrodes are barely touching my head. They don't seem as elastic as in the videos.

2. The electrodes seem to be working, but when I wear the headset, I don't get anything but very shaky data that seems more influenced by movement of my head than actual EEG. 

Feeling super frustrated and that I spent a lot of money for nothing. I know I must be so close to finalizing it, but can't figure it out--it's not like I can just take it to a corner computer shop to fix. Any ideas on how I might be able to get help on this? I'm based out of Chicago.

Comments

  • wjcroftwjcroft Mount Shasta, CA
    Brainchi, hi.

    1. you say you "self-assembled" an Ultracortex III. Is it possible your springs are somehow too stiff? How do you know they match the specs? The smoothness of the action might have been influenced by your printer settings for the electrode holders. This is partly why the UC IV went with injection molded parts for the electrode holders. If your parts move smoothly, perhaps consider softer springs. Did you choose UC III over UC IV because of the costs?

    re: head hurts, are you referring to pressure / pain from the spiky electrodes? Are you using the cone electrodes on your forehead area? Do all electrodes hurt, or just some? The shop does now list 5mm comb electrodes, with more rounded tips. But these also wear faster than the originals.

    2. headset EEG will always be very strongly influenced by head movement. Even EEG with gel or paste and an elastic cap or gold cups is the same way. EEG simply requires keeping the head relatively still. Are there any NeuroTechX groups near you?


    I do see there is a student group at Univ. of Indiana, I assume Bloomington. 

    Regards,

    William

  • wjcroftwjcroft Mount Shasta, CA
    If ALL your channels look bad / shaky, suspect your reference electrode / ear clip. It is the common terminal of all the channels. Are you using the OpenBCI AgCl earclip? Try exchanging the Bias and Reference clips to see if one might be intermittent.
  • wjcroftwjcroft Mount Shasta, CA
    edited May 2019
    One intermediate step between UC III and UC IV, was this,


    The added 'cushion' elements were to improve comfort by adding more support, so that the spiky combs were not taking all the weight. It might be possible for you to retrofit these onto your UC III..

    Also, if you are just using your UC III with 8 channels, then the other unused 10-20 positions, could be retrofitted with the soft bumpers, as the UCIII Nova does at the intermediate locations. In other words, you don't need to print out additional Nova-like parts. Just put the cushion bumpers at your existing unused 10-20 locations. You could then install stronger springs at the bumper electrode holder, as Nova did. This means your UCIII is more supported and less pressure on the spiky electrodes.

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