Carbon-wire loop based artefact correction outperforms post-processing EEG/fMRI corrections-A validation of a real-time simultaneous EEG/fMRI correction method.

Neuroimage. 2015 Oct 23;

Authors: van der Meer JN, Pampel A, Van Someren EJ, Ramautar JR, van der Werf YD, Gomez-Herrero G, Lepsien J, Hellrung L, Hinrichs H, Möller HE, Walter M

Abstract
Simultaneous EEG-fMRI combines two powerful neuroimaging techniques, but the EEG signal suffers from severe artefacts in the MRI environment that are difficult to remove. These are the MR scanning artefact and the blood-pulsation artefact - strategies to remove them is a topic of ongoing research. Additionally large, unsystematic artefacts are produced across the full frequency spectrum by the magnet's helium pump (and ventilator) systems which are notoriously hard to remove. As a consequence, experimenters routinely deactivate the helium pump during simultaneous EEG-fMRI acquisitions which potentially risks damaging the MRI system and necessitates more frequent and expensive helium refills. We present a novel correction method addressing both helium pump and ballisto-cardiac (BCG) artefacts, consisting of carbon-wire loops (CWL) as additional sensors to accurately track unpredictable artefacts related to subtle movements in the scanner, and an EEGLAB plugin to perform artefact correction. We compare signal-to-noise metrics of EEG data, corrected with CWL and three conventional correction methods, for helium pump off and on measurements. Because the CWL setup records signals in real-time, it fits requirements of applications where immediate correction is necessary, such as neuro-feedback applications or stimulation time-locked to specific sleep oscillations. The comparison metrics in this paper relate to: (1) the EEG signal itself, (2) the "eyes open vs. eyes closed" effect, and (3) an assessment of how the artefact corrections impacts the ability to perform meaningful correlations between EEG alpha power and the BOLD signal. Results show that the CWL correction corrects for He pump artefact and also produces EEG data more comparable to EEG obtained outside the magnet than conventional post-processing methods.

PMID: 26505301 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]