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A portable device for recording evoked potentials, optimized for pattern ERG

  • Stephen P. McInturff and William J. Buchser EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: November 4, 2015
Biomedical Engineering / Biomedizinische Technik
From the journal Biomedical Engineering / Biomedizinische Technik Volume 61 Issue 1

Abstract

Recording evoked potentials in un-anesthetized animals and people is a powerful technique to non-invasively measure the function of neurons. As such, the primary output neurons of the eye can be assessed by the pattern electroretinogram (PERG). Currently, electro-physiologic setups to perform PERG or related recordings are costly, complicated, and non-portable. Here, we design a simple steady-state PERG system, based off an Arduino board. The amplifier is built on a shield that fits over a microcontroller board, an Arduino, which digitizes the signal and sends it to a computer that presents stimuli then records and analyzes the evoked potentials. We used the device to record PERG accurately with a sensitivity as low as half a microvolt. The device has also been designed to implement other evoked potential recordings. This simple device can be quickly constructed and used for experiments in moving systems. Additionally, this device can be used to expose students in underserved areas to research technology that they would otherwise not have access to.

Keywords: Arduino; evoked potentials; glaucoma; pattern electroretinogram; PERG; retinal ganglion cell
Corresponding author: William J. Buchser, Department of Biology, College of William and Mary, 540 Landrum Dr. Williamsburg, VA, USA, Phone: +757-221-1994, Fax: +757-221-6483, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the College of William and Mary Biology Department, especially Eric Bradley for the use of his space and Paul Heideman for the use of his equipment. The other members of the Buchser laboratory also participated, and we would like to specially thank Caroline McKenna, Lyndah Lovell, Caitlin Laughrey and David Heo for their assistance and support.

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Supplemental Material:

The online version of this article (DOI: 10.1515/bmt-2015-0042) offers supplementary material, available to authorized users.

Received: 2015-3-5
Accepted: 2015-9-30
Published Online: 2015-11-4
Published in Print: 2016-2-1

©2016 by De Gruyter

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https://doi.org/10.1515/bmt-2015-0042
Keywords for this article
Arduino; evoked potentials; glaucoma; pattern electroretinogram; PERG; retinal ganglion cell

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Biosignal processing
  4. Review
  5. A review of beat-to-beat vectorcardiographic (VCG) parameters for analyzing repolarization variability in ECG signals
  6. Research articles
  7. Classification of persistent and long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation by means of surface electrocardiograms
  8. Entropy at the right atrium as a predictor of atrial fibrillation recurrence outcome after pulmonary vein ablation
  9. P wave detection and delineation in the ECG based on the phase free stationary wavelet transform and using intracardiac atrial electrograms as reference
  10. Multi-modal signal acquisition using a synchronized wireless body sensor network in geriatric patients
  11. A portable device for recording evoked potentials, optimized for pattern ERG
  12. Random forests in non-invasive sensorimotor rhythm brain-computer interfaces: a practical and convenient non-linear classifier
  13. Fractal and twin SVM-based handgrip recognition for healthy subjects and trans-radial amputees using myoelectric signal
  14. Nonlinear analysis of pupillary dynamics
  15. A multichannel bioimpedance monitor for full-body blood flow monitoring
  16. Recognition of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis disease using factorial hidden Markov model
  17. Short communication
  18. Quantifying the complexity of human colonic pressure signals using an entropy measure
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