Real-time artifacts reduction during TMS-EEG co-registration: A comprehensive review on technologies and procedures

Giuseppe Varone, Zain Hussain, Zakariya Sheikh, Adam Howard, Wadii Boulila, Mufti Mahmud, Newton Howard, Francesco Carlo Morabito*, Amir Hussain

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) excites neurons in the cortex, and neural activity can be simultaneously recorded using electroencephalography (EEG). However, TMS-evoked EEG potentials (TEPs) do not only reflect transcranial neural stimulation as they can be contaminated by artifacts. Over the last two decades, significant developments in EEG amplifiers, TMS-compatible technology, customized hardware and open source software have enabled researchers to develop approaches which can substantially reduce TMS-induced artifacts. In TMS-EEG experiments, various physiological and external occurrences have been identified and attempts have been made to minimize or remove them using online techniques. Despite these advances, technological issues and methodological constraints prevent straightforward recordings of early TEPs components. To the best of our knowledge, there is no review on both TMS-EEG artifacts and EEG technologies in the literature to-date. Our survey aims to provide an overview of research studies in this field over the last 40 years. We review TMS-EEG artifacts, their sources and their waveforms and present the state-of-the-art in EEG technologies and front-end characteristics. We also propose a synchronization toolbox for TMS-EEG laboratories. We then review subject preparation frameworks and online artifacts reduction maneuvers for improving data acquisition and conclude by outlining open challenges and future research directions in the field.

Original languageEnglish
Article number637
Pages (from-to)1-23
Number of pages23
JournalSensors (Switzerland)
Volume21
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2 Jan 2021
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • EEG amplifier and headset
  • Electroencephalography (EEG)
  • Online tricks for TMS artifact minimization
  • Subject preparation
  • Synchronization tools
  • TMS-EEG
  • TMS-EEG laboratory layout
  • TMS-Evoked potential (TEPs)
  • TMS-artifacts
  • Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Information Systems
  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
  • Biochemistry
  • Instrumentation
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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