Dry Electroencephalography Headcap
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Routine Encephalography (EEG) after indication in a clinical setting using a novel dry EEG headcap compared to current practice using scalp EEG
IRAS ID
329434
Contact name
Rylie Green
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Clinical electroencephalography (EEG) is a crucial investigation commonly used in diagnostic and management pathways on patient with neurological impairment (trauma, seizures, strokes, neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases etc). Prompt diagnosis and management is directly linked to the prognosis of many of these patients.
However, current clinical EEG typically uses individual electrodes with gel. A full EEG set-up requires at least 20 electrodes to set up, which need to be placed by a trained neurophysiologist. Due to this, a routine 20-minute test can take upwards of an hour to perform. Therefore, EEG is often limited, taking 1-3 days before being administered, or is not at all available. Additionally, the gel dries out over 24 hours, so for any long-term monitoring, the electrodes need to be replaced 2/3 times, worsening this effect.
Our group have developed a novel dry EEG headcap that does not use gel and can be set up in < 5 minutes without expertise. We propose to use this in EEG clinics in St Mary’s and Charing Cross Hospital in patients who are already undergoing EEG as part of their routine care. It would require an additional 15-20 minutes of their time to undergo the same routine test and compare the clinical performance of our device against the gold standard clinical EEG. This comparison will be performed with the assistance of clinical neurophysiology technicians and neurophysiologists, who will subjectively interpret scalp EEG recordings from both devices. Additionally, raw EEG signals will be analysed to provide an additional quantitative comparison of clinical performance of both devices.
If successful, this technology could significantly reduce the time and logistical burden of current clinical EEG via a quick set up, non-expert application, and last for multi-day recordings. This thus has the potential to improve care quality and be financially beneficial.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/NW/0018
Date of REC Opinion
19 Feb 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion