Anatomical atlas of the upper part of the human head for electroencephalography and bioimpedance applications

TL;DR

This paper presents a comprehensive 4D anatomical atlas of the upper human head's electrical properties, aiding in cerebral electrophysiology and bioimpedance studies with applications in machine learning and clinical diagnostics.

Contribution

The work introduces a novel, adjustable 4D statistical head model based on MRI data, including electrical properties and arterial circulation, for improved in silico simulations.

Findings

Successful simulation of electrical impedance tomography measurements

Identified signal-to-noise ratio requirements for vascular change detection

Provided a versatile, frequency-adjustable head model

Abstract

Volume conductor problems in cerebral electrophysiology and bioimpedance do not have analytical solutions for nontrivial geometries and require a 3D model of the head and its electrical properties for solving the associated PDEs numerically. Ideally, the model should be made with patient-specific information. In clinical practice, this is not always the case and an average head model is often used. Also, the electrical properties of the tissues might not be completely known due to natural variability. The objective of this work is to develop a 4D (3D+T) statistical anatomical atlas of the electrical properties of the upper part of the human head for cerebral electrophysiology and bioimpedance applications. The atlas is an important tool for in silico studies on cerebral circulation and electrophysiology that require statistically consistent data, e.g., machine learning, sensitivity analyses, and as a benchmark to test inverse problem solvers. The atlas was constructed based on MRI images of human individuals and comprises the electrical properties of the main internal structures and can be adjusted for specific electrical frequencies. The proposed atlas also comprises a time-varying model of arterial brain circulation, based on the solution of the Navier-Stokes equation in the main arteries and their vascular territories. The atlas was successfully used to simulate electrical impedance tomography measurements indicating the necessity of signal-to-noise between 100 and 125dB to identify vascular changes due to the cardiac cycle, corroborating previous studies.