Analysis and Simulation of Modified Electrode Stimulation and Measurement Patterns for Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT)

Undergraduate #6
Discipline: Biological Sciences
Subcategory: Biomedical Engineering

Choyce Bennett - Norfolk State Univeersity
Co-Author(s): Alex Fournier, Engineering Department, Norfolk State University, Norfolk, VA Min Kim and Mohammad Ferdjallah, Norfolk State University, Center for Materials Research, Norfolk, VA Hargsoon Yoon, Engineering Department, Center for Materials Research, Norfolk State University, Norfolk, VA Hargsoon Yoon,Engineering Department, Center for Materials Research, Norfolk State University, Norfolk, VA

Electrical Impedance tomography (EIT) is an imaging technique that can be used as an alternative for scanning an internal structure using an electrode array. This project focuses on the application of EIT to detect a neural network activity inside the human brain. The objective of this project was to find a stimulation and an electrode placement that will improve the spatial resolution of EIT to locate an obstruction in a cylindrical tank containing a normal saline solution. This step is important because it will allow us to collect data for designing planar electrode arrays. The cylindrical tank consists of a PVC 6” inch pipe that has 16 screws (gold plated on the inside) around the circumference of the pipe to act like the electrodes. A normal saline solution is added to the tank in order to mimic human tissue conductivity. During the testing, only 9 of the electrodes (semicircle) were utilized for stimulation and measurement patterns. There were 4 different measurement stimulation patterns that were tested to see if an obstruction can be detected inside the tank and within what resolution. These stimulation measurement patterns were selected based on our prior testing. The conclusion of the project was that the 48 points measurement pattern produced the better temporal/spatial resolution out of the 4 stimulation patterns that were tested. Future work will be to design better stimulation patterns which will detect an obstruction with a better resolution and will provide unique specifications design for planar electrode arrays.

Funder Acknowledgement(s): Washington, Baltimore, and Hampton Roads - Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (WBHR-LSAMP Grant #P2040016); Funding Agency: National Science Foundation and TApple, Inc. Institutional Grant #325005 hurgood Marshall College Fund; Apple, Inc. Institutional Grant #325005 Funding Agency: National Science Foundation and TApple, Inc. Institutional Grant #325005 hurgood Marshall College Fund Apple, Inc. Institutional Grant #325005

Faculty Advisor: Hargsoon Yoon Yoon, hyoon@nsu.edu

Role: I took part in the gathering the data of each stimulation pattern. I also conduct the testing of the EIT. Lastly, I was able to help come up with the patterns necessary for the experiment.