Resources

Neuro-motor rehabilitation device (Trackhold)
128 channel EEG (EBNeuro, Electro-Cap)
32 channel EEG ASA-Lab (ANT)
Eegosports TM (ANT – Neuro)
Virtual Reality system
Non-magnetic Device to measure finger Kinematics during Bimanual Coordination
Powerlab Aquisition System (AD Instruments)
Electronic training system for shooters (SCATT)

Neuro-motor rehabilitation device (Trackhold)

(www.percro.org)

Hardware

The Trackhold is a device which is used for the development and testing of novel upper arm rehabilitation methods for patients that suffered from stroke. It provides a large workspace, allowing the patient to perform a wide variety of arm movements (both abstract tasks or tasks resembling activities of daily living) without being limited by the Trackhold.

Thanks to the solid construction, counterweights can be attached to the Trackhold’s back end, in order to partially or fully compensate the weight of the patient’s arm and therefore facilitate the training process and maximize the effective training time without exhausting the patient.

All joints are equipped with Hall effect sensors to register changes in their angular positions in real-time. A connected PC can directly access these data and in turn create virtual environments, which are reacting online to the inputs, given by the patient via the Trackhold.

Software

Several training applications have been realized and are currently in use.

Sponge → Allows arbitrary movements in a two-dimensional plane.

Bug Hunt → Requires reaching of a defined point in a two-dimensional plane.

Grab 2D → Requires consecutive reaching of 2 defined points in a two-dimensional plane.

Grab 3D → Requires reaching of a defined point in three-dimensional space.

Twirl → Requires precise following of a given trajectory.

Sponge

Bug Hunt

Grab 2D

Grab 3D

Twirl

128 channel EEG (EBNeuro, Electro-Cap)

(www.ebneuro.biz; www.electro-cap.com)

Electroencephalography (EEG) is used to record the electrical activity of the brain at a high temporal resolution. Compared to other methods for visualizing the brain activity, like functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), EEG is more cost effective and easier to use.

Electrodes are positioned on the scalp according to the 10-5 system (a modification of the international 10-20 system). Thanks to the use of pre-wired EEG caps, mounting a total of 128 electrodes can still be done in reasonable time. Ocular electrodes can be added if desired or needed by the experimental paradigm.

Electrode positions according to the 10-5 system as suggested by Oostenveld et al. (Clin Neurophysiol. 2001 Apr;112(4):713-9).


From left to right: frontal, lateral and posterior view of the 10-5 electrode positions in a realistic display. Additional electrode labels can be found in the previous figure. The head and brain contours are modelled after Chatrian et al. (J Clin Neurophysiol 1988;5:183-6).

32 channel EEG ASA-Lab (ANT)

(www.ant-neuro.com)

ASA-Lab is an EEG/ERP recording system. In our lab it is configured with 32 channels. The amplifiers rely on a novel concept with very high input impedance and thus provide stable and noise-insensitive signals. This together with the WaveGuard electrode system guarantees signal quality.

ASA-Lab is especially suited to ERP studies in cognitive and clinical research. ASA-Lab offers high flexibility and full control over experimental settings, measurements and analysis options.
ASA-Lab can be used both for clinical and research applications such as neurological investigations, behavioral psychology, language experiments, or vision research. Types of measurements range from AEP, VEP, SEP, N100, P300, to complex paradigms like CNV, RP and MMN.

We use it especially for studies in children and in Sport and Human Movement Science.

Eegosports TM (ANT – Neuro)

(www.ant-neuro.com/products/eegosports)

Eegosports TM is an investigational device, not intended for clinical use. The compact eegosports is designed with mobility in mind. Eegosports offers complete freedom to collect data wherever and whenever required. Up to 64 channels of EEG of which up to 16 channels can be used for EMG- with publish-quality data in less than 15 minutes. The ultra-light eegosports is paired with a high-performance and user-friendly Windows 8 Ultrabook, making the eegosports package set for recording out of the box. With eegosports, recording can be done in nearly any environment on nearly any subject, even world-class athletes at work.

Movement is no problem for EEG or EMG data coming from eegosports due to its noise-canceling technology. ANT Neuro’s well-established waveguard EEG caps pair nicely with eegosports, offering flexible, comfortable and stylish EEG caps for all sizes and ages. Powerful, highly-adaptable, and intuitive: eegosports is a system for collecting reliable high-density data in real-life like no other. Further information can be find in a brochure by clicking here, or by visiting the related pages at the ANT – Neuro website by clicking here .

Data synchronization occurs
not only within a single eegosports system with multiple modalities, but also across parallel eegosports systems.

The system is light and compact enough for even the smallest child, yet robust enough for military personnel
in training.

There are two input
connectors with 32 EEG channels per connector. Alternatively, 8 up to 16 EMG channels can be recorded per connector.

The full set of signal processing
methods is available to create professional EEG/ERP results from mobile recordings made with eegosports.

Virtual Reality system

(www.vrmedia.it)

This system is used to produce 3D virtual reality environments. It is based on XVR Studio, a software package which allows the creation of high quality Virtual Realities. XVR supports complex 3-dimensional models as well as animated avatars and virtual sound sources. In addition, also physical properties can be taken into account, therefore allowing realistic interactions not only between two virtual objects (e.g. collisions), but also between the user and objects (e.g. user can feel friction or weight through a haptic device). The graphical output can be displayed on a wide variety of options, including a default computer screen, a 3D monitor or even a CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment), where all configurations from 2 up to 6 walls are possible.

Non-magnetic Device to measure finger Kinematics during Bimanual Coordination

We developed a non-magnetic high-resolution equipment with the purpose of measuring fingers kinematics in bimanual coordination tasks performed during brain functional acquisitions by means of fMRI, EEG or MEG scanners.

The equipment consists of:

a device dedicated to measure the absolute positions of hand fingers (with the exclusion of the thumb) performing flexion-extension movements. Depending on the tool used, the spatial resolution can be ± 1 mm or ± 2 mm. This device is composed of a mechanical part, made of two PVC hand blocks (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 2), and an optical apparatus consisting of optic fibers (1 mm diameter) (see Fig. 3).
an acquisition system that records and stores the behavioral signals with a temporal resolution of 1 ms. This system is made of an optic-electrical conversion circuit (see Fig. 3) to convert the optical signals arriving from the fibers mounted on the hand blocks into voltage unipolar squared signals, and a digital acquisition system (PowerLab 16/30 – ADInstruments).
View of the mechanical part of the device during a behavioural study. Scheme of one hand block of the mechanical part of the device. The optic fibers and the optic-electrical conversion circuit of the acquisition system.


Fig. 1: View of the mechanical part of the device during a behavioural study.	Fig. 2: Scheme of one hand block of the mechanical part of the device.	Fig. 3: The optic fibers and the optic-electrical conversion circuit of the acquisition system.

Dedicated software implemented in MATLAB v.6.5 (MathWorks, USA) for off-line data processing permits to reconstruct the absolute positions of fingers as a function of time. Derived variables such as frequency of fingers’ oscillations, and fingers’ velocity and acceleration, and the relative phase between fingersâ€™ oscillations can be calculated.

We demonstrated that there is no interference between the equipment and the functional signals.

The kinematic data acquired with this equipment can be used for functional data analysis, permitting to explore the role of specific brain areas with regard to a given kinematic parameter involved in the motor process.

Powerlab Aquisition System (AD Instruments)

(www.adinstruments.com)

The PowerLab 16/30 data acquisition system

The PowerLab 16/30 is a high-performance data acquisition system suitable for a wide range of research applications with up to 16 input channels. Typical applications include human and animal physiology, pharmacology, neurophysiology, biology, zoology, biochemistry, and biomedical engineering. The unit is capable of recording at speeds of up to 400 000 samples per second continuously to disk (aggregate), and is compatible with instruments, signal conditioners and transducers supplied by ADInstruments, as well as many other brands. In addition to standard single-ended BNC inputs, the PowerLab 16/30 features 4 differential Pod ports that allow for direct connection of Pod signal conditioners and appropriate transducers.

ChartView software

ChartView software (v. 5.2) provides data display, recording and analysis. The software incorporates easy-to-use control of PowerLab hardware settings, including signal conditioning and sampling speeds. ChartView powerful analysis features and automation are ideal for research applications.

Additional devices


Respiratory belt	Push button switch	Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) transducer	Duo	Bioharness

Electronic training system for shooters (SCATT)

(www.scatt.com)

Hardware

The system operates on the following principles: an electronic optical sensor is fixed to the barrel of the weapon, or the compressed air cylinder of an air weapon. The shooter then aims at the electronic target. A trace of the point of aim can then be followed on a â€˜real-time’ display screen. On activating the weapon trigger, the point of impact is then displayed on the screen. All results of the training session can be recorded for further analysis.