Wearable Wireless EEG Fashion Accessory

...and it's a hybrid, too!

Everyone in wearable wireless EEG systems with hybrid power supplies (by IMEC)!!

From the press release:

Wireless EEG system self-powered by body heat and light

Smart Systems Integration, April 9 -10, 2008, Barcelona, Spain - Booth 125

09-04-2008 - eindhoven, The Netherlands and Leuven, Belgium -- In the framework of Holst Centre, IMEC has developed a battery-free wireless 2-channel EEG system powered by a hybrid power supply using body heat and ambient light. The hybrid power supply combines a thermoelectric generator that uses the heat dissipated from a person’s temples and silicon photovoltaic cells. The entire system is wearable and integrated into a device resembling headphones. The system can provide more than 1mW on average indoor, which is more than enough for the targeted application.

. . .

Compared to a previous EEG demonstrator developed within Holst Centre, which was solely powered by thermoelectric generators positioned on the forehead, the hybrid system has a reduced size and weight. Combined with full autonomous operation, no maintenance and an acceptable low heat flow from the head, it further increases the patient’s autonomy and quality of life. Potential applications are detection of imbalance between the two halves of the brain, detection of certain kinds of brain trauma and monitoring of brain activity.

. . .

The EEG system uses IMEC’s proprietary ultra-low-power biopotential readout application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) to extract high-quality EEG signals with micro-power consumption. A low-power digital-signal processing block encodes the extracted EEG data, which are sent to a PC via a 2.4GHz wireless radio link. The whole system consumes only 0.8mW, well below the power produced to provide full autonomy.

-via NewScientist:

The portable electroencephalogram (EEG) device resembles a set of headphones. It could provide wireless monitoring of patients at risk of seizures, have cars or other machinery respond to stressed users, or provide new ways to interact with computer games.

IMEC [Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre] is Europe's leading independent research center in the field of micro- and nanoelectronics, nanotechnology, enabling design methods and technologies for ICT systems.