Novel wireless electroencephalography system with a minimal preparation time for use in emergencies and prehospital care

BACKGROUND: Although clinical applications such as emergency medicine and prehospital care could benefit from a fast-mounting electroencephalography (EEG) recording system, the lack of specifically designed equipment restricts the use of EEG in these environments. METHODS: This paper describes the design and testing of a six-channel emergency EEG (emEEG) system with a rapid preparation time intended for use in emergency medicine and prehospital care. The novel system comprises a quick-application cap, a device for recording and transmitting the EEG wirelessly to a computer, and custom software for displaying and streaming the data in real-time to a hospital. Bench testing was conducted, as well as healthy volunteer and patient measurements in three different environments: a hospital EEG laboratory, an intensive care unit, and an ambulance. The EEG data was evaluated by two experienced clinical neurophysiologists and compared with recordings from a commercial system. RESULTS: The bench tests demonstrated that the emEEG system's performance is comparable to that of a commercial system while the healthy volunteer and patient measurements confirmed that the system can be applied quickly and that it records quality EEG data in a variety of environments. Furthermore, the recorded data was judged to be of diagnostic quality by two experienced clinical neurophysiologists. CONCLUSIONS: In the future, the emEEG system may be used to record high-quality EEG data in emergency medicine and during ambulance transportation. Its use could lead to a faster diagnostic, a more accurate treatment, and a shorter recovery time for patients with neurological brain disorders.