Newbie - few questions and what do I need

paulyh24paulyh24 Aus
in General Discussion
Hi All,

I have a bit of background in signal processing and love the idea of home BCI so wanted to get together some equipment to play with.

I have a few questions though

1) Is the ultracortex headset only purpose to hold the sensors in position for easily repeatable results? Do I use the gold cup electrodes?

2) What's the difference between the solid gel and gold cup electrodes? Do they to do the same thing?

3) Could I not purchase a cap (for example) 
or
and just put the electrodes on this?

Thank you,

Comments

  • AndreaAndrea New York
    Hi Paul,

    1) The Ultracortex and the Gold Cup Electrodes are two separate things and are not used together.
    • The Mark IV has dry spiky electrodes that are held together by a frame, because the electrodes are "dry electrodes" they don't require paste and they are easier and less messy to use. The Mark IV is meant to only acquire EEG signal. 
    • The Gold Cup Electrodes are wet electrodes that require EEG paste to be used. You can measure EEG and EMG with them and technically put them anywhere you want. You will most likely need medical tape to make sure they stay in place. These are particularly difficult to use with people that have a lot of hair. 
    2) The solid gel electrodes are mainly used for EMG and ECG. They stick onto the skin and do not require extra paste or other adhesives. The gold cup electrodes use EEG paste to interface with the skin and require you to affix them in place with tape. The Gold cup electrodes have a smaller surface area so you can use them to measure EEG, as well as EMG and ECG. 

    3) Not sure if I understand how the cap on the first link works. The second cap already includes electrodes and they require you to use them with EEG paste (The paste touches your scalp not the electrodes on the cap). If you want to use that cap with OpenBCI boards you would need to purchase their adapter (https://bio-medical.com/electrode-board-adapter.html) and the OpenBCI touch proof connectors (https://shop.openbci.com/collections/frontpage/products/touch-proof-electrode-cable-adapter?variant=31007211715).

    --
    Andrea
  • paulyh24paulyh24 Aus
    Thank you Andrea, all makes perfect sense.

    So to get up and running, if I purchase the below 4 items is it everything I need?

    - Cyton + Daisy Biosensing Boards (16-Channels)
    - Ultracortex "Mark IV" EEG Headset
    - Bluetooth dongle as I'll be using windows
    - Some batteries (From spark fun as mentioned on shop page) But it looks like the Cyton takes AA batteries so is the reference to the lithium battery at spark fun old?

    Thank you again.


  • AndreaAndrea New York
    You don't need the Bluetooth Dongle. You only need it if you are working with the Ganglion. The Cyton board already has a dongle included.
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