A high-intensity, goggle-mounted flash stimulator for short-latency visual evoked potentials.
The few studies that have been done on short-latency, subcortical visual evoked potentials (SVEPs) have all used stroboscopic flashes as the evoking stimulus. The dimensions of the stimulator, the acoustical artifacts and the photic spread to the examination room limited the use of SVEPs to research laboratories. With the advent of high-efficiency light-emitting diodes (LEDs), high-intensity flashes can now be generated from goggle-mounted LEDs. In this study, a goggle-mounted high-intensity stimulator was constructed and its flashes used to evoke SVEPs. The reproducibility of SVEPs across subjects and the ease of using the high-intensity LED flash stimulator make them a promising candidate for testing subcortical visual pathway function in the operating room.
Real-time change detection of steady-state evoked potentials
Steady-state evoked potentials (SSEP) are the electrical activity recorded from the scalp in response to high-rate sensory stimulation. SSEP consist of a constituent frequency component matching the stimulation rate, whose amplitude and phase remain constant with time and are sensitive to functional changes in the stimulated sensory system. Monitoring SSEP during neurosurgical procedures allows identification of an emerging impairment early enough before the damage becomes permanent. In routine practice, SSEP are extracted by averaging of the EEG recordings, allowing detection of neurological changes within approximately a minute. As an alternative to the relatively slow-responding empirical averaging, we present an algorithm that detects changes in the SSEP within seconds. Our system alerts when changes in the SSEP are detected by applying a two-step Generalized Likelihood Ratio Test (GLRT) on the unaveraged EEG recordings. This approach outperforms conventional detection and provides the monitor with a statistical measure of the likelihood that a change occurred, thus enhancing its sensitivity and reliability. The system’s performance is analyzed using Monte Carlo simulations and tested on real EEG data recorded under coma.
Political Developments: Some Conclusions and an Interpretation
When the political decisions and achievements of the post-Khrushchev Soviet leadership are considered as a whole, it is not immediately obvious that there is any pattern to them. It may, nevertheless, be useful to begin by devoting attention to some of the major policy tendencies and outcomes of the past decade, most of which have already been considered in greater detail by other contributors, before going on to enquire if any broad strategy underlying them may be discerned and to attempt to place the various changes in a broader political context.