EEG recording for small dogs [resolved]

neurotech

Hi,
I am new to brain research. I'd like to conduct EEG recordings for small dogs. I am looking for some learning materials and guidelines (what to buy, how to build the headset or buy one, ...). My assumption is there is no assembled headset (or 3D printing option) that I can start with. My guess is I need to go with dry electrodes and learn how to build an EEG cap myself.
I'll appreciate any information or material that I can use to quickly ramp up.
Thanks!

wjcroft

Hi Neurotech,

Here is a full text pdf article that may be helpful. I've not heard any other OpenBCI Forum members comment on canine EEG in the past. The article states that sedation is required in all cases, they used xylazine. Without sedation the movement of the dog will result in too many artifacts which would contaminate the EEG. May be best to work with your local vet.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8901273_Canine_electroencephalographic_recording_technique_Findings_in_normal_and_epileptic_dogs

https://www.google.com/search?q=xylazine

Regards, William

wjcroft

(what to buy, how to build the headset or buy one, ...). My assumption is there is no assembled headset (or 3D printing option) that I can start with. My guess is I need to go with dry electrodes and learn how to build an EEG cap myself.

From the above paper, I do not believe that any form of cap will be practical. Nor dry electrodes, which require considerable pressure on the scalp; they also give less EEG signal amplitude than other types of electrodes.

If you are new to EEG, it seems likely that human EEG will be much easier to begin with.

neurotech

Thanks so much for the info! I'll check out the resources. Unfortunately, researching on humans is not an option at the moment.
I am curious which headset and which software have been used in this video?

wjcroft

Unfortunately, researching on humans is not an option at the moment.

I was not suggesting "researching on humans", I was instead suggesting that you do some EEG experiments with yourself. This will be much easier than working with animals.

I am curious which headset and which software have been used in this video?

If you look at the comments of the video and the wiring, this is one of the Emotiv EPOC saline based headsets. He has run extra wires from the headset, over the dog's head. EPOC uses saline soaked pads, and he has done the same with the dog. I would not call the setup on the dog's head, a "headset" per se. It looks to me like an elastic band that is holding the saline electrodes in place. It looks like he has used plain cup electrodes for the electrodes, perhaps with a saline soaked sponge under each cup. I doubt if the elastic band is placed on the head in one smooth operation. (Like an actual headset.) He likely placed the elastic band first, then fished each individual electrode into approximate position. Awkward and time consuming, and probably inaccurate as far as repeatable positioning.

If you look over on the screen, you can see huge amounts of noise in the signals. (High amplitude, very fast oscillations.) It looks like mains noise to me, 60 Hz. On most channels. This complete obliterates any valid EEG signal in his case. Such high mains noise is usually the result of poor grounding, reference, or AC magnetic fields.

Other types of noise visible are from movements of the dog's body / head, which cause EMG spikes (muscle artifact). Here is another insightful statement from the author in his comments:

What became of this project? [Answer:] mostly ADD'd onto other projects, EEG is a fun/novel thing to tinker with/toy with, but unless I planned on using ketamine/muscle relaxant to get rid of all the EMG noise from my dogs head, I wasn't going to get VERY far with the project... I had some fun interesting patterns I could detect I got using matlab/etc (other smarter people libraries/algorythms) but it was clear with my current... [comment ended]

neurotech

Thanks so much, your comment was super helpful!