Noninvasive Wearable Brain Sensing

Transforming the field of portable noninvasive brain monitoring from cumbersome, inconvenient, and obtrusive sensing systems into new ergonomic, user-friendly solutions requires solid evidence from practice. Multi-modal sensing of brain signals digitized at the sensor level, minimization of noise using active sensors and shielding, and flexible and reconfigurable dry electrodes are essential components of such solutions. Usefulness of these basic ingredients has been demonstrated in several research publications, however deficiencies and prospects of novel brain sensing systems and their components over traditional gel-based systems and their clinical relevance have rarely been discussed. Here, we present the state-of-the-art and illustrate some of the latest developments in imec's wearable brain sensing systems and identify latest research trends and needs. Special emphasis is given to recent technological developments that enable multi-modal wearable brain sensing by combining EEG with functional near infrared spectroscopy and electrical impedance tomography.