System for motor evoked potentials acquisition and analysis

Abstract

Biological signal acquisition is a fundamental part of the following signal processing methods. This study is focused on hardware and software solution for an electrophysiological measurement in neurological patients and healthy controls. This paper deals with a design and an implementation of the system for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied over the human motor cortex, which has the diagnostic and potential therapeutic effect, respectively. The system was successfully used for examinations of 22 neurological patients (mean age 51 ± (SD) 17 years) suffering from dystonia of various distribution and etiology treated by chronic deep brain stimulation of globus pallidus interna (GPi DBS). Established values of the motor-evoked potential’s (MEP) parameters are in line with the current literature. Designed system for TMS examination is an effective tool for studying the pathophysiology of neurological diseases.