Patient-Specific Sensor Registration for Electrical Source Imaging Using a Deformable Head Model

Objective: Electrical source imaging of brain activity is most accurate when using individualized bioelectric head models. Constructing these models requires identifying electrode positions on the scalp surface. Current methods such as photogrammetry involve significant user interaction that limits integration in clinical workflows. This work introduces and validates a new, fully-automatic method for sensor registration. Methods: Average electrode coordinates are registered to the mean scalp mesh of a shape-constrained deformable head model used for tissue segmentation. Patient-specific electrode positions can be identified on the deformed scalp surface using point-based correspondence after model adaptation. Results: The performance of the proposed method for sensor registration is evaluated with simulated and real data. Electrode variability is quantified for a photogrammetry-based solution and compared against the proposed sensor registration. Conclusion: A fully-automated model-based approach can identify electrode locations with similar accuracy as a current state-of-the-art photogrammetry system. Significance: The new method for sensor registration presented in this work is rapid and fully automatic. It eliminates any user dependent inaccuracy introduced in sensor registration and ensures reproducible results. More importantly, it can more easily be integrated in clinical workflows, enabling broader adoption of electrical source imaging technologies.

Automated summary

The study introduces and validates a new, fully-automatic method for sensor registration which can accurately identify electrode locations in a short amount of time and is expected to be more easily integrated into clinical workflows.