Developing a Compact Wearable for Mental Stress Detection by Studying the Effect of Stress on Electroencephalogram (EEG) and Electrocardiogram (ECG) Signals

Overview

Human beings undergo stress, which is a necessary evil in everyday life. The physical stressors are temporary and can be controlled. Emotional stressors like family and work pressures are difficult to adapt to. Positive stress is short-term and provides opportunity for growth and evolution whereas negative stress is a chronic stress that leads to serious psychological and physical disorders and is difficult to detect. The objective of this project was to design and develop a compact, low cost wearable for the detection of mental stress. The EEG and ECG signals were measured in the time domain under two conditions, the rest and the stress state. The stress state was simulated by Stroop color word and mental arithmetic test. Five volunteers were recruited for the experiment. The MindFlex headset connected to Arduino measures the visual cortex electrical signals at different frequencies. The ECG sensor AD8232 was simultaneously connected to Arduino and the RR intervals were recorded. Both devices had electrodes attached to the subjects and signals were measured for twelve minutes each second. ANOVA testing was done to analyze the data and it clearly indicated that there exists a statistical difference between the mean EEG/ECG values and the rest/stress states. It was then found from the mean heart rate values that when the mean heart rate value for four minutes exceeds 90bpm corresponds to the stress state. A wearable device was designed to alert the user via mini vibration motors whenever the mean heart rate for preceding four minutes exceeds 90bpm. LOUISIANA

Competition history

• JSHS 2022 Category not listed

Resources

• National JSHS abstract book ↗

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