A Portable Waterproof EEG Acquisition Device for Dolphins

The acquisition and analysis of EEG signals of dolphins, a highly intelligent creature, has always been a focus of the research of bioelectric signals. Prevailing cable-connected devices cannot be adapted to data acquisition very well when dolphins are in motion. Therefore, this study designs a novel, light-weighted, and portable EEG acquisition device aimed at relatively unrestricted EEG acquisition. An embedded main control board and an acquisition board were designed, and all modules are encapsulated in a 162 x 94 x 60 mm(3) waterproof device box, which can be tied to the dolphin's body by a silicon belt. The acquisition device uses customized suction cups with embedded electrodes and adopts a Bluetooth module for wireless communication with the ground station. The sampled signals are written to the memory card on board when the Bluetooth communication is blocked. A limited experiment was designed to verify the effectiveness of the device functionality onshore and underwater. However, more rigorous long-term tests on dolphins in various states with our device are expected in future to further prove its capability and study the movement-related artifacts.

Automated summary

This study designed a novel, lightweight, and portable EEG acquisition device for dolphins, which can be tied to their bodies with a waterproof device box. The device utilizes customized suction cups with embedded electrodes and Bluetooth module for wireless communication. Initial experiments verified the functionality of the device onshore and underwater, with more rigorous long-term tests planned for the future to study movement-related artifacts.