Improving classification rates for use in fatigue countermeasure devices using brain activity

Fatigue can be defined as a state that involves psychological and physical tiredness with a range of symptoms such as tired eyes, yawning and increased blink rate. It has major implications for work place and road safety as well as a negative symptom of many acute and chronic illnesses. As such there has been considerable research dedicated to systems or algorithms that can be used to detect and monitor the onset of fatigue. This paper examines using electroencephalography (EEG) signals to classify fatigue and alert states as a function of subjective self-report, driving performance and physiological symptoms. The results show that EEG classification network for fatigue improved from 75% to 80% when these factors are applied, especially when the data is grouped by subjective selfreport of fatigue with classification accuracy improving to 84.5%. © 2010 IEEE.