Ildar Rakhmatulin Launches a New, 16-Channel PiEEG for the Most Advanced Brain-Machine Interfaces
If the eight-channel version of the PiEEG wasn't enough, the latest model can handle 16 wet or dry electrode inputs for EEG, EMG, and ECG.
Neuroscience researcher and maker Ildar Rakhmatulin has launched a new version of the PiEEG, an electroencephalograph (EEG) brain-machine interface device built for the Raspberry Pi — and this one boasts an impressive 16 channels, which can capture any combination of brain, muscle, and heart activity.
"I am really happy to share that finally after a testing low-cost PiEEG-16 (16 EEG channels) is available in the Market, thanks to our amazing partner Elecrow," Rakhmatulin wrote in an announcement on LinkedIn. "PiEEG-16 is a shield for Raspberry Pi designed to measure 16 channels of various biosignals, including EEG (electroencephalography), EMG (electromyography), and ECG (electrocardiography) without any data transfer over the network (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth), and processing and feature extraction directly on the Raspberry in real-time."
Rakhmatulin launched the original PiEEG, then styled as "PIEEG," back in 2021, as an affordable open source sensor board capable of reading brain (EEG), muscle (EMG), and heart (ECG) activity. Rather than include the processing capabilities on the device itself, Rakhmatulin designed the PiEEG as a Hardware Attached on Top (HAT) accessory for the Raspberry Pi range of single-board computers — following it up with a variant for the Arduino UNO R4 WiFi dubbed the ardEEG.
A later revision to the PiEEG design would expand its capabilities to a total of twelve channels — but the new model doubles that again to an impressive 16. Designed for use with the Raspberry Pi 5, the PiEEG-16 — like its predecessors — is compatible with EEG, EMG, and ECG electrodes and can capture 24-bit resolution data at 250 to 16,000 samples per second (S/s) with a programmable signal gain. The software is Python-based, with full source code provided under an unspecified open source license.
"PiEEG is not a medical device and has not been certified by any government regulatory agency for use with the human body," Rakhmatulin notes for those thinking about picking one up for a brain-machine interface or health-monitoring project. "You are fully responsible for your personal decision to purchase this device and, ultimately, for its safe use."
More information is available on the PiEEG website, while boards are available to order from Elecrow at $390 — Raspberry Pi 5 not included. The source code, meanwhile, can be found on GitHub.