A proposed headset design
⚠️ This is a conceptual design, not a built or tested device. Our data comes from clinical EEG; the headset below is how we would propose to translate that into a wearable — subject to real-world testing.
In theory, the 8 electrodes can't just sit anywhere — scalp hair blocks the signal, and hospital gel isn't practical at home. So we'd design placement around a simple rule: put contacts on hairless skin wherever possible, and reach the important brain regions from there. The layout below shows where the electrodes would ideally go.
Where the electrodes go — and why
Best spots (hairless)
- Forehead (Fp) — fully hairless, easy clean contact; covers the frontal lobe.
- Behind the ears (TP) — hairless, and sits close to the temporal lobe, where most seizures start. The key placement.
- Temples (F7 / FT) — little to no hair; reach the frontal-temporal region.
Harder / avoid
- Top & back of head — strong signal, but buried in hair; only reached with dry "bristle" electrodes that part the hair.
- Neck & face — avoid: too far from the brain and dominated by muscle noise, not real brain signal.
💡 In short: anchor on the forehead and behind the ears (hairless, high-value), add the temples for easy extra coverage, and only go into hairy scalp with dry electrodes if you need more.
Proposed form factor & materials
How we would imagine building it:
- Shape: a lightweight wraparound band — forehead → temples → hooks behind both ears, so it would stay put overnight without a full cap.
- Dry electrodes (no messy gel) with soft, skin-safe conductive contacts — ideally self-applied, no technician needed.
- Flexible frame that adjusts to different head sizes, with padded rests for comfort during long wear.
- Built in: a rechargeable battery (aiming for a full night), Bluetooth to the phone, and a small chip to run seizure detection on the device itself.
Why fewer electrodes could work
The standard 21-electrode clinical cap was designed for localization — pinpointing exactly where a seizure starts, for surgery planning. That needs dense, full-head coverage. But home monitoring only needs detection — knowing a seizure is happening — which is a far more forgiving task. Seizures are a loud, widespread signal, so in principle you shouldn't need to cover the whole head to catch them. The idea behind MYTER is to match the hardware to that simpler job.
Honest tradeoff
- A hairless, dry-electrode design captures a somewhat weaker, noisier signal than a full clinical cap with gel.
- Our detection results came from full-scalp hospital data, so the headset itself would need its own validation on real hardware.
- Fewer electrodes also means if one contact fails, you lose a bigger share of your signal — a real reliability consideration for home use.
- Seizures are a strong signal, which is exactly why this simpler, cheaper setup is worth testing.