The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the lives of people around the world. It has caused contact restrictions, social isolation and economic uncertainty. Scientists are no exception.
The Mentalab team has been talking to researchers in neuroscience, psychology and human-machine-interaction to better understand their COVID related challenges.
These conversations provided a great insight into the difficulties scientists face in 2020. They also indicated that Mentalab’s mobile EEG device provides a powerful solution for many EEG researchers.
Current challenges for scientists
First, let’s consider some of the current challenges researchers face. At the top of the list is financial uncertainty. Research budgets are normally tight. The pandemic has only made them tighter.
Many universities and research institutions have also limited or completely prevented campus access. This means researchers spend less time in the lab, and more time at home.
On top of this, educating students remotely is both time-consuming and demanding. Class sizes for lectures and in-person teaching are reduced, and experiment participants can be reluctant to visit labs, especially those at risk.
Our research with elderly participants essentially stopped, as they are a high risk group for complications due to COVID-19. We neither have the budget to bring each subject to the lab by taxi (so they don’t need to take public transport), nor the means to take our equipment to their homes or institutions
Diego Pinal, a Neuropsychology EEG researcher from Minho University in Portugal
Addressing these challenges with mobile tech
Mobile technology can solve many of these research challenges simultaneously. Portable EEG devices, like Mentalab Explore, allow researchers to take their experiment to participants, meaning at-risk groups can stay safe at home.
What is more, mobile EEG devices are cheaper than stationary systems and quicker to set-up. With Mentalab Explore, for instance, researchers can obtain good impedance values quickly, and start recording at the press of a button.
Additionally, with smaller devices, only one researcher need conduct a measurement at a time. This shortens individual recording sessions and minimizes social contact, reducing the risk of contagion and boosting participant engagement.
Furthermore, it is important for scientists to regularly disinfect their equipment. Mentalab Explore makes this easy; the system is completely modular. It consists of a small mobile device, a neoprene cap, and electrodes, each of which can be disinfected separately.
If all that wasn’t enough, with mobile EEG devices, EEG studies can be conducted outdoors and even remotely. In fact, researchers are increasingly conducting pilot studies, data acquisition and analysis from home.
And with our device, researchers can forget about dongles and licenses because all of our software is free and open-source.
Why choose Mentalab Explore
With Mentalab Explore, you don’t need to wait until COVID is over. We provide premium, research-grade and cost-effective solutions for movement and ExG data recordings that you can use now.
Explore’s mobile and compact design enables you to carry out measurements, whilst adhering to COVID safety guidelines. Our system is leading a new generation of bio-signal research technology.
Going mobile is, therefore, not only necessary because of COVID, but a buffer against the changes coming in bio-signal research.
Mentalab Explore makes it possible to carry on with your work now and in the future.
