Software simulation of the EEG

Narasimhan, SV and Dutt, DN (1985) Software simulation of the EEG. In: Journal of Biomedical Engineering, 7 (4). pp. 275-281.

PDF pdf.pdf - Published Version Restricted to Registered users only Download (731kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

The literature contains many examples of digital procedures for the analytical treatment of electroencephalograms, but there is as yet no standard by which those techniques may be judged or compared. This paper proposes one method of generating an EEG, based on a computer program for Zetterberg's simulation. It is assumed that the statistical properties of an EEG may be represented by stationary processes having rational transfer functions and achieved by a system of software fillers and random number generators.The model represents neither the neurological mechanism response for generating the EEG, nor any particular type of EEG record; transient phenomena such as spikes, sharp waves and alpha bursts also are excluded. The basis of the program is a valid ‘partial’ statistical description of the EEG; that description is then used to produce a digital representation of a signal which if plotted sequentially, might or might not by chance resemble an EEG, that is unimportant. What is important is that the statistical properties of the series remain those of a real EEG; it is in this sense that the output is a simulation of the EEG. There is considerable flexibility in the form of the output, i.e. its alpha, beta and delta content, which may be selected by the user, the same selected parameters always producing the same statistical output. The filtered outputs from the random number sequences may be scaled to provide realistic power distributions in the accepted EEG frequency bands and then summed to create a digital output signal, the ‘stationary EEG’. It is suggested that the simulator might act as a test input to digital analytical techniques for the EEG, a simulator which would enable at least a substantial part of those techniques to be compared and assessed in an objective manner. The equations necessary to implement the model are given. The program has been run on a DEC1090 computer but is suitable for any microcomputer having more than 32 kBytes of memory; the execution time required to generate a 25 s simulated EEG is in the region of 15 s.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Journal of Biomedical Engineering
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Additional Information:	The copyright of this article belongs to Elsevier Science
Department/Centre:	Division of Electrical Sciences > Electrical Communication Engineering
Date Deposited:	06 Nov 2009 07:39
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 05:32
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/20269

Actions (login required)

View Item