WISC resources and equipment

Below is a catalogue of the resources and equipment available at WISC.

Polysomnography (PSG)
High-Density Electroencephalography (hdEEG)
High-Density Polysomnography (hdPSG)
Active hdEEG
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Brain Navigation
TMS-EEG
EEG-MRI
EEG digitization
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Home sleep testing
Analysis software
Computer resources

Polysomnography (PSG)

Grael 4K high-definition PSG, DC-coupled recording systems (including 32 referential, 16 differential, 3 plethysmography channels, pressure, airflow, position, snore microphone and oximeter) with 24bit A/D and sampling rates up to 4096sps. Each system includes a Profusion SLEEP 4 recording software licenses

High-Density Electroencephalography (hdEEG)

EGI 256 Channel NetAmp300 systems – DC-coupled firewire amplifiers, with 24bit A/D conversion, sampling rates up to 20,000sps, 70nV/bit precision, 200mV dynamic range, and 8-bit TTL digital inputs programmable for 255 unique event codes.  256 electrode Hydrocel GSN net arrays have 256 low-profile pedestals with carbon-fiber quiet electrodes and wires embedded within a plastic substrate that are coated with a tough silver-chloride surface to block out electrochemical noise. WISC has software licenses for both NetStation 4 and 5 for recording and analysis.

High-Density Polysomnography (hdPSG)

Neuvo fully integrated PSG amplifier systems (each with four 64 referential + 4 bipolar amplifiers, scalable up 256 + 16), DC coupled, 24bit A/D, sampling rates up to 10,000,30 nV/bit sensitivity, with 8 bit TTL inputs.  Neuvo amplifiers are also MRI and TMS compatible.

Active hdEEG

actiChamp 64 channel battery operated amplifier(2 x 32 channel scalable amplifiers) – is a revolutionary development that integrates high-end components and active electrodes (impedance readings at each electrode) in an easy to use, highly versatile, 24-bit amplifier with sampling rates up to 10,000sps.   The amplifier is TMS compatible and also has a lab streaming layer for ultra-fast closed loop and brain-computer interface experiments.  64 channel actiCap slim electrodes caps are available to use with this system.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

Multiple transcranial magnetic stimulators (including MagStim 200, MagStim  Rapid, MagStim Rapid2 and Nexstim) and coils available including various sizes of 8-shaped coils for focal stimulation and circular coils, MRI compatible coils, and various air-cooled coils are available.

Brain Navigation

Nexstim (Helsinki, Finland) eXimia Navigated Brain Stimulation (NBS) system allows for image-guided, neuronavigated TMS. The NBS device locates (with an error <3 mm) the relative positions of the subject’s head and of the TMS coil by means of an optical tracking system and allows for precise repeatability of stimulation with a software-aiming tool that ensures throughout the session the reproducibility of position, direction, and angle of the stimulator. NBS also calculates the distribution and strength of the intracranial electric field induced by TMS. The integrated infrared optical tracking system Polaris Spectra®  can also used to digitize EEG electrodes to a participant’s MRI. https://www.nexstim.com/healthcare-professionals/nbs-system/

TMS-EEG

The eXimia NBS can also be used with an integrated 60-channel EEG system, eXimia EEG.  This unique and unfortunately discontinued sample and hold amplifier that keeps the output of the amplifier constant during the brief TMS pulse allows for unparalleled immediate visualization of the EEG brain response to TMS.

EEG-MRI

BrainAmp MR plus (8 x 32 channel, scalable up to 256), battery powered (up to 30 hours for 32 channels) MR –compatible amplifiers are switchable between AC/DC mode, 16bit AD, with sampling rates up to 5000sps.  BrainAmp MR plus amplifiers are completely portable and also TMS compatible.

EEG digitization

The Polaris® Krios (Northern Digital) handheld digitizing scanner integrates into OEM neurodiagnostic equipment to measure, identify, and map electrode positions (via attached markers) in EEG, MEG, NIRS, PSG, and ECG tests. The Polaris Krios is based on optical 3D measurement technology that scans up to 256 markers in less than 2 minutes to accuracy within 0.5 mm and repeatability of 0.1 mm. Real-time compensation for data variability ensures only actual markers are measured for mapping and registration purposes. More information on the Polaris Krios system can be found here:  https://www.ndigital.com/msci/products/krios/

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Two MRI facilities are available for collecting MRI structural images. On-site, HERI houses a GE 3.0 Tesla SIGNA MRI scanner.  The nearby (< 5 miles from WISPIC) Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior (< 5 miles from WISPIC) has a 3.0 Tesla X750 GE Discovery MRI scanner. The scanners are equipped with the most powerful gradients found in the industry, water-cooled gradient amplifiers and 64-bit data pipelines with dual blade processing. Custom pulse sequences are developed using GE’s EPIC software development package. MRI structural images will be acquired using a quadrature birdcage coil, 8- channel array head coil, or 16-channel array head coil.

Home sleep testing

Philips Alice PDx portable diagnostic system, with recording of 2 respiratory airflow channels, 2 respiratory effort channels, oxygen saturation, heart rate, and position.

Analysis Software

Existing software available for data analysis include NetStation 4 and 5 (EGI, for hd-EEG analysis and data acquisition), Geosource 2.0 (EGI, source localization) and Curry 8 (Compumedics, advanced signal and source analysis)  and Alice Sleepware and Compumedics Profusion SLEEP 4 (traditional sleep study analysis).  Additional analysis and experimental control software packages are utilized in the lab including Matlab (EEGlab, Brainstorm), Python, and E-Prime. Standard office-related software packages are ubiquitous, including Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator/Acrobat, webpage editors, web browsers, email programs, etc. Statistical analysis packages include SAS, SPSS and R.

Computer resources

WISC researchers have access to both PC and Apple Mac computers for word processing and data analysis applications.  All computers are internetworked and have access to 20TB of storage space on file servers and network attached storage devices. Technical staff provides support for all users. The computer servers are located in the air-conditioned electronics room and are connected to a 6 kVA APC Symmetra uninterruptible power supply.  The servers consist of 6 Dell PowerEdge 2450 machines with dual 833 MHz Intel Pentium III processors and 1 GB of RAM. Three of the Dells run Windows 2000 Server, one acts as the domain controller, one handles various administrative tasks such as virus protection and software distribution, and the last is a file and print server. A storage area network provides a scalable and manageable storage system, allowing backups to be done regularly. This system consists of a dual processor SGI Origin 300 running IRIX 6.5 and ADIC StorNext FS.  The network infrasctructure also includes a backbone consisting of a 10 GB redundant ring. Networked printers include an HP LaserJet 8100DN and HP Color LaserJet 4500HDN, in addition to Canon imageRUNNER 550 and 330 copiers.