WearLight: Toward a Wearable, Configurable Functional NIR Spectroscopy System for Noninvasive Neuroimaging

Creating anatomically derived, standardized, customizable, and three-dimensional printable head caps for functional neuroimaging

Significance

Consistent and accurate probe placement is a crucial step toward enhancing the reproducibility of longitudinal and group-based functional neuroimaging studies. Although the selection of headgear is central to these efforts, there does not currently exist a standardized design that can accommodate diverse probe configurations and experimental procedures.

Aim

We aim to provide the community with an open-source software pipeline for conveniently creating low-cost, three-dimensional (3D) printable neuroimaging head caps with anatomically significant landmarks integrated into the structure of the cap.

Approach

We utilize our advanced 3D head mesh generation toolbox and 10-20 head landmark calculations to quickly convert a subject's anatomical scan or an atlas into a 3D printable head cap model. The 3D modeling environment of the open-source Blender platform permits advanced mesh processing features to customize the cap. The design process is streamlined into a Blender add-on named "NeuroCaptain."

Results

Using the intuitive user interface, we create various head cap models using brain atlases and share those with the community. The resulting mesh-based head cap designs are readily 3D printable using off-the-shelf printers and filaments while accurately preserving the head geometry and landmarks.

Conclusions

The methods developed in this work result in a widely accessible tool for community members to design, customize, and fabricate caps that incorporate anatomically derived landmarks. This not only permits personalized head cap designs to achieve improved accuracy but also offers an open platform for the community to propose standardizable head caps to facilitate multi-centered data collection and sharing.

Developing customized NIRS-EEG for infant sleep research: methodological considerations

Significance

Studies using simultaneous functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-electroencephalography (EEG) during natural sleep in infancy are rare. Developments for combined fNIRS-EEG for sleep research that ensure optimal comfort as well as good coupling and data quality are needed.

Aim

We describe the steps toward developing a comfortable, wearable NIRS-EEG headgear adapted specifically for sleeping infants ages 5 to 9 months and present the experimental procedures and data quality to conduct infant sleep research using combined fNIRS-EEG.

Approach

N = 49 5- to 9-month-old infants participated. In phase 1, N = 26 (10 = slept) participated using the non-wearable version of the NIRS-EEG headgear with 13-channel-wearable EEG and 39-channel fiber-based NIRS. In phase 2, N = 23 infants (21 = slept) participated with the wireless version of the headgear with 20-channel-wearable EEG and 47-channel wearable NIRS. We used QT-NIRS to assess the NIRS data quality based on the good time window percentage, included channels, nap duration, and valid EEG percentage.

Results

The infant nap rate during phase 1 was ∼ 40 % (45% valid EEG data) and increased to 90% during phase 2 (100% valid EEG data). Infants slept significantly longer with the wearable system than the non-wearable system. However, there were more included good channels based on QT-NIRS in study phase 1 (61%) than phase 2 (50%), though this difference was not statistically significant.

Conclusions

We demonstrated the usability of an integrated NIRS-EEG headgear during natural infant sleep with both non-wearable and wearable NIRS systems. The wearable NIRS-EEG headgear represents a good compromise between data quality, opportunities of applications (home visits and toddlers), and experiment success (infants' comfort, longer sleep duration, and opportunities for caregiver-child interaction).

A Flexible Optoelectronic Device for Continuous Cerebral Blood Flow Monitoring

Human cerebral oxygenation and hemodynamics can be estimated by cerebral oxygenation parameters. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) can be used to measure the hemoglobin concentration index of brain tissue noninvasively and in real time. However, limited by cumbersome equipment, high price and uncomfortable wear, conventional fNIRS monitoring systems still cannot achieve continuous and long-term monitoring. In this work, a flexible and wearable long-term monitoring system is developed featured with cost efficiency, simple preparation and light weight (only 1.6 g), which consists of a pair of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and a photodetector (PD). Triangular serpentine interconnectors are introduced to connect the functional elements, enabling the device to be stretched in multiple directions. The device can continuously work for 7 h and be subjected to 2000 cycles of bending loading, with less than 3% change in voltage value, 1.89% and 1.9% change in LED luminous power and 0.9% change in voltage value. Furthermore, the hand-gripping and breath-holding experiments show that the system can accurately measure the changes in hemoglobin concentration in accordance with the commercial device. The flexible fNIRS system presented here not only provides a simple preparation process but also offers new ideas for daily cerebral state monitoring and prolonged clinical monitoring.

Portable wireless and fibreless fNIRS headband compares favorably to a stationary headcap-based system

This study’s purpose is to characterize the performance of a prototype functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) headband meant to enable quick and easy measurements from the sensorimotor cortices. The fact that fNIRS is well-suited to ergonomic designs (i.e., their ability to be made wireless, their relative robustness to movement artifacts among other characteristics) has resulted in many recent examples of novel ergonomic fNIRS systems; however, the optical nature of fNIRS measurement presents an inherent challenge to measurement at areas of the brain underlying haired parts of the head. It is for this reason that the majority of ergonomic fNIRS systems that have been developed to date target the prefrontal cortex. In the present study we compared the performance of a novel, portable fNIRS headband compared with a stationary full headcap fNIRS system to measure sensorimotor activity during simple upper- and lower-extremity tasks, in healthy individuals >50 years of age. Both fNIRS systems demonstrated the expected pattern of hemodynamic activity in both upper- and lower-extremity tasks, and a comparison of the contrast-to-noise ratio between the two systems suggests the prototype fNIRS headband is non-inferior to a full head cap fNIRS system regarding the ability to detect a physiological response at the sensorimotor cortex during these tasks. These results suggest the use of a wireless and fibreless fNIRS design is feasible for measurement at the sensorimotor cortex.

A low-cost, wearable, do-it-yourself functional near-infrared spectroscopy (DIY-fNIRS) headband

Neuromonitoring in naturalistic environments is of increasing interest for a variety of research fields including psychology, economics, and productivity. Among functional neuromonitoring modalities, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is well regarded for its potential for miniaturization, good spatial and temporal resolutions, and resilience to motion artifacts. Historically, the large size and high cost of fNIRS systems have precluded widespread adoption of the technology. In this article, we describe the first open source, fully integrated wireless fNIRS headband system with a single LED-pair source and four detectors. With ease of operation and comfort in mind, the system is encased in a soft, lightweight cloth and silicone enclosure. Accompanying computer and smartphone data collection software have also been provided, and the hardware has been validated using classic fNIRS tasks. This wear-and-go design can easily be scaled to accommodate a larger number of fNIRS channels and opens the door to easily collecting fNIRS data during routine activities in naturalistic conditions.

The Validation of a Portable Functional NIRS System for Assessing Mental Workload

Portable functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) systems have the potential to image the brain in naturalistic settings. Experimental studies are essential to validate such fNIRS systems. Working memory (WM) is a short-term active memory that is associated with the temporary storage and manipulation of information. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) brain area is involved in the processing of WM. We assessed the PFC brain during n-back WM tasks in a group of 25 college students using our laboratory-developed portable fNIRS system, WearLight. We designed an experimental protocol with 32 n-back WM task blocks with four different pseudo-randomized task difficulty levels. The hemodynamic response of the brain was computed from the experimental data and the evaluated brain responses due to these tasks. We observed the incremental mean hemodynamic activation induced by the increasing WM load. The left-PFC area was more activated in the WM task compared to the right-PFC. The task performance was seen to be related to the hemodynamic responses. The experimental results proved the functioning of the WearLight system in cognitive load imaging. Since the portable fNIRS system was wearable and operated wirelessly, it was possible to measure the cognitive load in the naturalistic environment, which could also lead to the development of a user-friendly brain–computer interface system.

Flexible optical imaging band system for the assessment of arthritis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

We have developed a flexible optical imaging system (FOIS) to assess systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) arthritis in the finger joints. While any part of the body can be affected, arthritis in the finger joints is one of the most common SLE manifestations. There is an unmet need for accurate, low-cost assessment of lupus arthritis that can be easily performed at every clinic visit. Current imaging methods are imprecise, expensive, and time consuming to allow for frequent monitoring. Our FOIS can be wrapped around joints, and multiple light sources and detectors gather reflected and transmitted light intensities. Using data from two SLE patients and two healthy volunteers, we demonstrate the potential of this FOIS for assessment of arthritis in SLE patients.

Optics Based Label-Free Techniques and Applications in Brain Monitoring

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has been utilized already around three decades for monitoring the brain, in particular, oxygenation changes in the cerebral cortex. In addition, other optical techniques are currently developed for in vivo imaging and in the near future can be potentially used more in human brain research. This paper reviews the most common label-free optical technologies exploited in brain monitoring and their current and potential clinical applications. Label-free tissue monitoring techniques do not require the addition of dyes or molecular contrast agents. The following optical techniques are considered: fNIRS, diffuse correlations spectroscopy (DCS), photoacoustic imaging (PAI) and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Furthermore, wearable optical brain monitoring with the most common applications is discussed.