Basic NeuroscienceSparse time artifact removal

- The STAR algorithm addresses channel-specific noise that is sparse in time.
- It removes electrode or sensor noise and certain forms of myogenic artifact.
- In contrast to other techniques, few data are lost and the dimensionality of the data is preserved.
- The STAR algorithm complements component analysis techniques such as ICA.

BackgroundMuscle artifacts and electrode noise are an obstacle to interpretation of EEG and other electrophysiological signals. They are often channel-specific and do not fully benefit from component analysis techniques such as ICA, and their presence reduces the dimensionality needed by those techniques. Their high-frequency content may mask or masquerade as gamma band cortical activity.New methodThe sparse time artifact removal (STAR) algorithm removes artifacts that are sparse in space and time. The time axis is partitioned into an artifact-free and an artifact-contaminated part, and the correlation structure of the data is estimated from the covariance matrix of the artifact-free part. Artifacts are then corrected by projection of each channel onto the subspace spanned by the other channels.ResultsThe method is evaluated with both simulated and real data, and found to be highly effective in removing or attenuating typical channel-specific artifacts.Comparison with existing methodsIn contrast to the widespread practice of trial removal or channel removal or interpolation, very few data are lost. In contrast to ICA or other linear techniques, processing is local in time and affects only the artifact part, so most of the data are identical to the unprocessed data and the full dimensionality of the data is preserved.ConclusionsSTAR complements other linear component analysis techniques, and can enhance their ability to discover weak sources of interest by increasing the number of effective noise-free channels.