Demonstration of long-distance hazard-free wearable EEG monitoring system using mobile phone visible light communication

Abstract

A wearable electroencephalogram (EEG) is a small mobile device used for long-term brain monitoring systems. Applications of these systems include fatigue monitoring, mental/emotional monitoring, and brain-computer interfaces. However, the usage of wireless wearable EEG systems is limited due to the risks posed by the wireless RF communication radiation in a long-term exposure to the human brain. A novel microwave radiation-free system was developed by integrating visible light communication technology into a wearable EEG device. In this work, we investigated the system's performance in transmitting EEG data at different illuminance level and proposed an algorithm that functions at low illuminance levels for increased transmission distance. Using a 30 Hz smartphone camera, the proposed system was able to transmit 2.4 kbps of error-free EEG data up to 4 meter, which is equal to ~300 lux using an aspheric focus lens.