Influence of skull inhomogeneities on EEG source localization

Author

Montes, Victoria ; Hallez, Hans ; Staelens, Steven

Author_Institution

Med. Image & Signal Process., Ghent Univ., Ghent, Belgium

fYear

2011

fDate

13-16 May 2011

Firstpage

72

Lastpage

76

Abstract

We investigated the influence of using simplified models of the skull on electroencephalogram (EEG) source localization. An accurately segmented skull from computed tomography (CT) images, including spongy and compact bones as well as some air-filled cavities, was used as a reference model. The simplified models approximated the skull as a homogeneous compartment with: (1) isotropic, and (2) anisotropic conductivity. The results showed that these approximations could lead to errors of more than 2 cm in dipole estimation. We recommend the use of anisotropy but considering a different ratio for each region of the skull, according to the amount of spongy bone.

Keywords

bone; brain models; computerised tomography; electroencephalography; image segmentation; medical image processing; EEG source localization; air-filled cavities; anisotropic conductivity; compact bones; computed tomography; dipole estimation; electroencephalogram; skull inhomogeneities; spongy bones; Atmospheric modeling; Bones; Brain models; Computational modeling; Conductivity; Electroencephalography; EEG; anisotropy; forward problem; skull conductivity; source localization;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Noninvasive Functional Source Imaging of the Brain and Heart & 2011 8th International Conference on Bioelectromagnetism (NFSI & ICBEM), 2011 8th International Symposium on

Conference_Location

Banff, AB

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-8282-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/NFSI.2011.5936823

Filename

5936823