A researcher at the Faculdade de Ciências of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC) has developed a low-cost, reusable wearable electronic device that promises to revolutionize electroencephalograms. The news was disclosed by LUSA and replicated by RTP among other Portuguese Media.
Manuel Reis Carneiro of the Institute of Systems and Robotics (ISR) has created a wearable fabric consisting of an ultra-thin non-rigid electrodes, produced through a specific ink that facilitates the interface between the electronic device and the brain activity. This ink was developed at ISR’s “Soft and Printed Microelectronic” Lab (SPM-UC) as part the CMU Portugal Program research project – Stretchtronics, funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) during Manuel Carneiro Master’s thesis. The researcher was supervised by Mahmoud Tavakoli, Professor and Director of the “Soft and Printed Microelectronic” from ISR-Coimbra and his thesis was recently distinguished at the” Fraunhofer Portugal Challenge 2019 ” competition.
Based on flexible electronics, technology that allows the creation of elastic (malleable) electronic circuits, the device is able to perform electroencephalograms much more comfortably and for much longer periods than the technology currently used in clinical practice.
“Electroencephalography is currently performed with rigid metallic electrodes placed on the scalp, which become uncomfortable over time. In addition, current methods are large, use many wires, take time to prepare and therefore require a specialized technician confining this monitoring to a Lab or hospital,” says FCTUC.
The wearable EEG developed by the ISR researcher overcomes these limitations and can be easily and quickly placed on the patient by anyone. This “wearable device” was designed to be used in emergency services “even in situations when a specialist technician is not available. In fact, any professional can place the device on and evaluate the patient’s condition.”
Manuel Reis Carneiro is already thinking of new uses for the device. “By allowing the human-machine interface, for example, a quadriplegic person can control a wheelchair through brain activity,” he says. On the other hand, as it is a very inexpensive wireless device, it can also be used for remote medical examinations (telemedicine).
The researcher and his team want to take it further and get “clinical validation in order to place this wearable on the market”. “The device is working, is effective in monitoring brain activity, is simple and inexpensive (the textile band costs between 1 and 2 euros), so we want the technology to hit the market,” concludes Manuel Reis Carneiro.
News in the media: RTP; Porto Canal; Jornal Médico; Sapo; Notícias de Coimbra; Universidade de Coimbra
