Inclusion starts with the fitting process
Hair texture, density and hairstyle can affect how electrodes reach the scalp. The response should include thoughtful equipment design, skilled fitting and a conversation about the person’s hair. Adams and colleagues’ practical guidance places that preparation at the centre of inclusive EEG research. [1]
What the studies show
Adapted hardware can help. In 35 infants included in Mlandu and colleagues’ analysis, taller electrode supports increased retained channels from 91.98% to 95.38%: a gain of 3.4 percentage points. However, the taller net was always tested second, and recordings were brief. The result supports further investigation of electrode clearance; it does not establish performance during adult intensive care. [2]
Conventional systems also deserve a fair comparison. Lees and colleagues studied 213 young people and found no significant hair-group differences in rejected channels or trials, although some signal-amplitude differences remained. [3] Lewendon and colleagues examined separate dry- and wet-EEG datasets and found no evidence of poorer data quality in Black participants across their five measures. Race, however, is not a measure of hair texture, and these findings do not establish equivalence in every clinical setting. [4]
Together, these findings suggest that fitting difficulty and final recording quality need separate assessment. Successful recordings can still require considerable preparation.
What this means for Sentinel
Our development priority is to test whether adaptable housings improve the whole experience: scalp access without cutting hair, reliable coverage of required recording sites, comfortable wear and straightforward removal.
The comparison should be against well-fitted conventional EEG. We would measure total preparation time, interpretable recording time, contact loss during repositioning, skin pressure, hair traction and comfort across hair textures and styles. Prolonged ward use needs its own evaluation; short research recordings cannot establish clinical seizure-detection performance.
The useful question is how much benefit Sentinel adds to good existing practice, and whether that benefit lasts throughout monitoring.
Sources
- Adams et al. (2024). Fostering inclusion in EEG measures of pediatric brain activity. npj Science of Learning. Practice guidance and review.
- Mlandu et al. (2024). Evaluating a novel high-density EEG sensor net structure for improving inclusivity in infants with curly or tightly coiled hair. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. Comparative infant study.
- Lees et al. (2024). The effect of hair type and texture on electroencephalography and event-related potential data quality. Psychophysiology. Observational study.
- Lewendon et al. (2026). Mind the Cap: Inclusivity Gaps in EEG Research. Psychophysiology. Analysis of two research datasets.