Current thinking on brain wave recording turned on its head

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12 March 2003 News

James Sinclair, LPS special correspondent

Scientists in the UK have announced the development of a revolutionary non-invasive sensor that can record brainwaves without the need for electrodes to be inserted into the brain or even placed on the scalp. The sensor's scientific novelty stems from the fact that conventional electro-encephalograms (EEGs) monitor electrical activity in the brain with electrodes placed either on the scalp or inserted directly into the brain with needles.

Instead of measuring the charge flow through an electrode, with its attendant distortions, the new system - initiated by Professor Terry Clark's team at Sussex University in the UK - measures electric fields remotely. This is an advance made possible by new developments in sensor technology which he describes as heralding a new age as far as sensing the electrical dynamics of the body is concerned, says Clark. The advantages offered by these sensors compared with the currently used contact electrodes may act to stimulate new developments in multichannel EEG monitoring and in realtime electrical imaging of the brain. By picking up brain signals non-invasively, we could find ourselves controlling machinery with our thoughts alone - a marriage of mind and machine.

Clark light-heartedly likens the discovery to Star Trek's Dr McCoy who simply waves an electronic gadget across the patient's body for an instant diagnosis. Making fact stranger than fiction, the team's super-sensor can monitor a clothed person's heartbeat or brainwaves from a metre away and could mark the start of a revolution in remote medical testing.

Conventional ECGs suffer from weak and distorted signals because the skin contacts drain some of the current. Clark set about developing an alternative system that measures the changing electrical field in the air generated by the shifting voltages on the skin's surface. This prototype remote device is fastened rigidly in front of the seated patient. Potential applications include remote monitoring of burns victims - who cannot be touched - or people trapped in traffic accidents.

The project has received a million pounds sterling funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

For more information contact Professor Terry Clark, t.d.clark@sussex.ac.uk

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Current thinking on brain wave recording turned on its head

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