A Comparative Study of Alpha Frequency Analysis between Medical and Consumer-grade Electroencephalography Devices on the Measurement of Male Healthy Subjects

Abstract

The relatively high cost of medical-grade electroencephalography (EEG) devices has pushed the production of low-cost wireless consumer-grade devices. Therefore, it is essential to assess the performance of wireless consumer devices to determine whether they are sufficient for medical purposes. This research assessed consumer-grade EEG (C-EEG) recording quality by quantitatively comparing the consumer-grade EEG with a medical-grade EEG device (M-EEG). Recording data from C-EEG and M-EEG were obtained from 20 male subjects in age 19-23 years old. Recording for both devices was done sequentially with similar methods of recording. Upon EEG recording, the subject is asked to sit in a chair facing the screen. EEG recording was performed when the subject was asked to open and close their eyes for 30 seconds each. Subsequently, subjects took a verbal memory test. This research compared the following parameters: power spectral density (PSD), full width at half max (FWHM) from PSD, and individual peak alpha frequency (IPAF) shift. P-value, standard error, mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and mean squared error (MSE) were also obtained based on mentioned parameters. Based on the IPAF shift, it was concluded that C-EEG could read EEG signals against time well. Based on PSD and FWHM results, it was concluded that the C-EEG could not read EEG signal amplitudes well compared to the M-EEG device. The results of this research are important as a benchmark for carrying out further research using EEG, both medical and consumer-grade.