[Eeglablist] simultaneous fMRI-EEG recording

[Seri, Stefano]

Hi Eishi,

It is technically possible. Your main problems will be
1 electrode caps. Wiring individual electrodes can be risky as it can create conductive coils-loops. There are obviously manufacturers of pre-wired caps but I suggest you contact the distributor of the eeg equipment to ensure compatibility. For safety reasons Caps are usually wired with resistors for each electrode and impedences are therefore affected.

2Shielding of the headbox. Even if your headbox has built-in AD conversion, it will still reside in the proximity of the MRI. You will need a shielding box to avoid damaging the electronics. I suspect you have a fibre-optic cable from the headbox to the acquisition PC, which should be OK. Ethernet cables are not safe in MRI environment. 

3sampling rate is sufficient usually 4-8 KHz is more that enough, particularly id you acquire simultaneously the trigger from the MRI scanner for each slice/volume. The gain of the amp and thhe level of input signal it will tolerate needs to be different from the Standared EEG to avoid saturating your channels. Usually dynamic range  in the order of 5-10 mV works.

4software. There is more than one solution. EEGLab of course has FMRIB software as toolbox and it is quite efficient. There is also a software solution freely available from Prf. Luigi Bianchi of the University Tor Vergata in Rome which I have successfully used. You can find refrence at www.brainterface.com

In essence, other that for the software I would rather buy a dedicated system (brainproducts, Micromed, EGI, Neuroscan) are amongst the available solutions. No endorsement of any of them.

Good luck

Stefano Seri



Prof. Stefano Seri MD, PhD, FRCP
Professor of Clinical Neurophysiology
and Developmental Neuropsychiatry
School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University
Director MRI Research Centre

Consultant in Clinical Neurophysiology,
The Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Trust

Address for correspondence:

Room SW613
Aston Unversity
Aston Triangle
Birmingham B4 7ET


Tel. +44-(0)121-2044103
EMAIL: s.seri at aston.ac.uk

Students can make an appointment to see me here:  https://wass.aston.ac.uk/wass/pages/login.page.php
________________________________________
From: eeglablist-bounces at sccn.ucsd.edu [eeglablist-bounces at sccn.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Eishi Asano, MD, PhD, MS [eishi at pet.wayne.edu]
Sent: 10 January 2011 23:58
To: UCSD EEG List
Subject: [Eeglablist] simultaneous fMRI-EEG recording

Dear All,

A happy new year. We'd like to initiate fMRI-EEG simutaneous recording. Our Nihon Kohden digital EEG system has a sampling frequency up to 10,000Hz for 19 channels.
Would it be possible to do simultaneous fMRI-EEG recording without purchasing a new EEG system?
If so, do we have to buy a special electrode cap (such as carbon electrodes)?
Is there free or commertially-available software to reduce artifacts driven by MRI?

Thank you very much for your generous help!

Eishi
------------------------------------------------
Eishi Asano, MD, PhD, MS (CRDSA)
Associate Professor, Pediatrics and Neurology
Director, Electroneurodiagnostics

Office:
Room 3C 125
Division of Pediatric Neurology,
Children's Hospital of Michigan,
Wayne State University.

3901 Beaubien Street, Detroit,
Michigan, 48201, USA.
Phone: +1-313-745-5547
FAX: +1-313-745-0955
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E-mail: eishi at pet.wayne.edu
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