User-Centered Ergonomic Design of a Portable EEG System for Evaluating Dolphin-Assisted Therapy in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Dolphin-Assisted Therapy (DAT) is a therapeutic alternative used in comprehensive neurorehabilitation, aimed at improving the quality of life and social integration of patients with neurodevelopmental disorders through interaction with dolphins. However, the lack of defined standards makes it difficult to objectively evaluate its effectiveness. In this context, it was identified that the electroencephalographic device used to record EEG signals before, during, and after the sessions (based on a TGAM1 sensor) presented both functional and ergonomic limitations, as its readjustment interrupted the therapy sequence and caused discomfort in patients. To address this issue, the present work proposes the redesign of the device, incorporating ergonomic criteria to improve comfort, stability, and ease of use, without compromising the quality of the signal acquired by the TGAM1 sensor. The main objective was to optimize the user experience while also enabling the collection of more consistent and reliable data for analysis. The results show a significant improvement, achieving a 51% increase in signal retention. This made it possible to recover approximately 36 additional seconds of high-quality neural data per hour of therapy, thanks to more continuous and accurate EEG acquisition during interactions with dolphins. Furthermore, patient evaluations indicated greater acceptance of the device, highlighting improvements in comfort and weight perception compared to the previous version, thereby validating both its functionality and ergonomic design.

@article{Hidalgo2026,
  title     = {User-Centered Ergonomic Design of a Portable EEG System for Evaluating Dolphin-Assisted Therapy in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders},
  journal   = {International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications},
  volume    = {17},
  number    = {4},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {The Science and Information Organization},
  author    = {Brenda Lorena Flores Hidalgo and Urim Rarael Pérez Bernal and Jesús Jaime Moreno Escobar and Hugo Quintana Espinosa and Ana Lilia Coria Páez},
  doi       = {10.14569/IJACSA.2026.0170481},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.14569/IJACSA.2026.0170481}
}