MNE Scan: Software for real-time processing of electrophysiological data

Lorenz Esch; Limin Sun; Viktor Klüber; Seok Lew; Daniel Baumgarten; P Ellen Grant; Yoshio Okada; Jens Haueisen; Matti S Hämäläinen; Christoph Dinh

doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2018.03.020

MNE Scan: Software for real-time processing of electrophysiological data

J Neurosci Methods. 2018 Jun 1;303:55-67. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2018.03.020. Epub 2018 Apr 3.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Medical School, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129, USA; Boston Children's Hospital, Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115 USA; Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Informatics, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Gustav-Kirchhoff- Str. 2, 98693 Ilmenau, Germany. Electronic address: lesch@mgh.harvard.edu.
² Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Medical School, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129, USA; Boston Children's Hospital, Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115 USA.
³ Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Informatics, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Gustav-Kirchhoff- Str. 2, 98693 Ilmenau, Germany; Institute of Nuclear and Energy Technologies, KIT - Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany.
⁴ Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Medical School, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129, USA; Department of Engineering, Olivet Nazarene University, 1 University Ave, Bourbonnais, 60914 IL, USA.
⁵ Institute of Electrical and Biomedical Engineering, UMIT - University of Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, 6060 Hall in Tirol, Austria.
⁶ Boston Children's Hospital, Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115 USA; Boston Children's Hospital, Division of Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115 USA.
⁷ Boston Children's Hospital, Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115 USA.
⁸ Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Informatics, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Gustav-Kirchhoff- Str. 2, 98693 Ilmenau, Germany; Biomagnetic Center, Clinic for Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Erlanger Allee 101, 07743 Jena, Germany.

Abstract

Background: Magnetoencephalography (MEG) and Electroencephalography (EEG) are noninvasive techniques to study the electrophysiological activity of the human brain. Thus, they are well suited for real-time monitoring and analysis of neuronal activity. Real-time MEG/EEG data processing allows adjustment of the stimuli to the subject's responses for optimizing the acquired information especially by providing dynamically changing displays to enable neurofeedback.

New method: We introduce MNE Scan, an acquisition and real-time analysis software based on the multipurpose software library MNE-CPP. MNE Scan allows the development and application of acquisition and novel real-time processing methods in both research and clinical studies. The MNE Scan development follows a strict software engineering process to enable approvals required for clinical software.

Results: We tested the performance of MNE Scan in several device-independent use cases, including, a clinical epilepsy study, real-time source estimation, and Brain Computer Interface (BCI) application.

Comparison with existing method(s): Compared to existing tools we propose a modular software considering clinical software requirements expected by certification authorities. At the same time the software is extendable and freely accessible.

Conclusion: We conclude that MNE Scan is the first step in creating a device-independent open-source software to facilitate the transition from basic neuroscience research to both applied sciences and clinical applications.

Keywords: Data acquisition; Data processing; MEG/EEG; Medical software; Neurofeedback/BCI.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Brain-Computer Interfaces*
Child, Preschool
Electroencephalography / methods*
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Magnetoencephalography / methods*
Neurofeedback / methods*
Neurosciences / methods*
Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted*
Software Design*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grant support