Alacron proposes continued development of an advanced lossless data compression engine for EEG for use in long distance transmission of EEG. In Phase I of this project, Alacron demonstrated the feasibility of achieving real-time 10:1 compression of EEG data. This contrasts with 2.5:1 lossless EEG compression currently available. At 10:1 compression, EEG data becomes truly portable. A standard 20 channel 20 minute EEG can be transmitted over an ISDN telephone line in less than 1 minute, and a 12 hour recording from an intensive care or epilepsy monitoring unit can be transmitted in less than one half hour. This will substantially facilitate ambulatory EEG monitoring, critical care EEG monitoring, and routine remote EEG interpretation. In Phase II of this project, Alacron will implement its compression engine using cost effective, custom designed hardware.
The proposed EEG data compression engine would have substantial commercial applicability. It could potentially be incorporated into all new EEG recording and monitoring equipment.
