electrode placement for alpha, 1 or 2 grounds?

edited May 2016 in Electrodes
Hello guys, I have some questions about the number of electrodes and its position in the head.

for a simple test I use this configuration:
- 2 electrodes in lobehears shortcircuited, as reference.
- 1 electrode in forehead, as right leg driver (for noise cancel)
- 1 electrode in Occipital to detect alpha waves with closed eyes.

questions:
- is this configuration correct??
- Do I need an extra electrode for GROUND (I read it in "hackathon guide")??
- if I need the "GROUND" electrode, where do I connect it??

thanks!!

Comments

  • May I know what is your hardware? It's easier for others to know your hardware and configuration before giving any advice...

    I'm planning to test the alpha wave next week so I don't have much experience. I believe you don't need that much of electrodes though. @Chip demonstrated an alpha wave detection system with only two electrode here at

    http://eeghacker.blogspot.com/2013/11/openbci-alpha-wave-detector.html



  • Hi Taro, actually I´m using the TI´s ADS1299 development kit board with a MSP430g2253 microcontroller, and serial comunication with PC.
    also, I´m using a bipolar supply (+/-2.5V), and i´m trying to use the RLD for conceling noise.
    I´ll check the link, thanks!!
  • I'm testing a similar system. The TI board with the STM32F4 Discovery, bipolar supply. I have used only 1 reference electrode. Check out my results at:
    eegexplore.blogspot.com

    Do you have any blog, sharing or publishcation about your work?

  • Sorry I don´t have a blog, but I can share some results here or via email if you want.
    my email is: [email protected]
  • Hi All,

    Great discussion!

    An EEG records the difference in voltage between one electrode and the reference electrode. Often, this is all you need.

    Most EEG systems often include a third electrode, which can go by a variety of names: ground, driven ground, driven right light, or bias. The ADS1299 terminology is "bias". This connection helps reduce noise and it helps keep your body's DC voltage level in-line with what the ADS1299 needs in order to properly amplify and digitize your EEG signal. Without the bias line connected to your body, your EEG signal (as seen by the ADS1299 chip) might start floating off and, eventually, saturate the input.

    So, if you're looking for the simplest setup, put your sense electrode on the back of the head (the Occipital area) and put your reference electrode on your earlobe or on your forehead (for eyes-closed Alpha, it doesn't matter). If you get a good signal, you win!

    If it doesn't work, you can try putting your bias electrode on your other earlobe. Maybe that'll make it work. If not, you've got other problems with your system or your setup.

    Eyes-closed alpha is definitely a good place to start. An even better place to start, though, is with measuring your ECG (your heart pulses) because those signals are very large...http://eeghacker.blogspot.com/search/label/ECG

    Good luck! And let us know how it works out!

    Chip
  • Hi Chip, thanks for the explanation!! well, yesterday I made a simple electrode test with the next configuration:
    - positive electrode: O4
    - Negative electrode: Cz
    - Bias electrode: Lobehear

    and these are my results:

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwR99SVSDTjdTkhncXg2NzZxLVk/edit?usp=sharing
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwR99SVSDTjddnI3cGk2czFKeTg/edit?usp=sharing

    sorry I don't know how to post it in this page.
  • hi everybody, some guys asked me about the images I left here, but it seems that the links doesn´t work....so I made a blog and this is the link:


    I hope they can see the images, byeee!!!
  • wjcroftwjcroft Mount Shasta, CA
    Isra, hi.

    You can upload images into your comment posts here, using the icon above the text area, looks like a small TV screen.  (Hover over that icon, it will say "Insert Image").  It expects an URL. 

    Your 10 hz alpha looks good, about 3 uV amplitude on the spectrum graph.  Many people interested in EEG activity above say .5 hz, will run their signal through a digital highpass filter before graphing it.  That would drop off your DC component and the ~ 1hz overlay that is on top of your alpha in the graph. 

    Congrats on getting the TI dev kit board to work.   I've heard it's not always that easy (a lot of components to wrestle.)

    William


  • isramoon,

    Congratulations!  Your data looks great!

    Chip
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