Belgian and Dutch engineers at IMEC Research Center in The Netherlands have developed a self-powered 2-channel EEG, that one day could be used for clinical applications, or at home for such things as a brain-computer interface for gaming.
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…
The thermoelectric generator is composed of six thermoelectric units made up from miniature commercial thermopiles. Each of the two radiators, on left and right sides of the head, has an external area of 4×8cm² that is made of high-efficiency Si photovoltaic cells. Further, thermally conductive comb-type structures (so-called thermal shunts) have been used to eliminate the thermal barrier between the skin and the thermopiles that is caused by the person’s hair on the thermoelectric generator.
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.
Press release: Wireless EEG system self-powered by body heat and light
(hat tip: Eureka Magazine)
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