Are you looking for a low-cost 32 channel EEG device for medical & research grade applications? – we invite you to build one based on the ADS1299 demo kit from Texas Instruments

Last Updated on September 25, 2024 by pg@petergamma.org

The ADS1299 is a great chip and is suitable for medical and research grade applications. We first had a look at it several years ago, and we first thought that the Texas Instruments ADS1299 demo kit it is only a solution for hobbists, but this is wrong. We can build up to devices with 97 ADS1299 chips in daisy chain mode. We do not know of scientists who uses more than 256 EEG channels. 256 channels should be possible with the ADS1299 demo kit according to the information we have. The kit is stable available on the market and we do not know of any issues it has. It is not save for humans, but there is a lot of information about in the EEVBLOG how to solve this problem:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/how-to-solve-the-ti-ads1299-eeg-demo-kit-is-not-save-for-humans-problem

It is the most affordable option to build a 32 channel research and medical grade EEG device we know. Development in the field of EEG devices is slow. And it is eventually worth to have a closer look at this device and the papers in which it is used in. These are several papers about it on researchgate.net published by Indonesian scientists who have built and tested it. And we think it is also worth to see if it is difficult to code daisy chain software for such a device, which is necessary for 32 channels. There is also a support forum from Texas Instruments for the ADS1299 demo kit. If there is no better and more affordable option on the long-term, it is eventually worth to write the code by ourselves.

The ADS1299 demo kit is also used by EEG technologist Jared Beckwith:

Is he on a budget? Many of Jared Beckwith’s YouTube videos are recorded in his car. Has he no other place to record his videos? If so, we feel sorry for him. You can find many good instructional vidoes on Jared Beckwith’s YouTube channel about EEG:

https://www.youtube.com/@jaredbeckwith/videos

An alternative would be a device based on PiEEG. But PiEEG has not been tested by independent testers yet, has not been proven to be reliable and stable on the market. And PiEEG has also not been used in as many papers as the TI ADS1299 demo kit.