The acquisition and analysis of EEG signals

We designed and developed the system for acquisition and analysis of EEG signals of rats by using NI PCI-6220 data acquisition card and the LabVIEW software. Signals from an existing preamplifier are connected to inputs of a PCI-6220. Beside signal acquisition and analysis, the system controls treadmill. The recorded signals can be processed and analyzed by the most modern methods currently used in the world.

It is possible to extract parts of a signal (epochs), filter the signal, perform a spectral analysis by calculating average FFT and time FFT.  Since an EEG signal is unsteady, for its analysis it is necessary to use methods which provide information about the signal in the so-called time-scale domain, and therefore, Short Time FT and continuous and discrete wavelet transformation were applied.

For above mentioned analysis, pre-built LabVIEW functions have been used. A very rich library of pre-built functions for signal processing and analysis is a major advantage of LabVIEW over other programming languages. Control of treadmill operation can be performed by sending individual commands (direction and speed), or by defining a trajectory. Communication with treadmill is achieved over serial an RS-232 interface by sending and receiving text messages. Completed application software provides report generation and signal export in JPG and Excel.  

Read the Full Case Study at National Instruments website: http://sine.ni.com/cs/app/doc/p/id/cs-14654