The goal of source localization in the brain is to estimate a set of parameters for representing source characteristics; one of such parameters is the source number. We here propose a method combining the Powell algorithm with the information criterion method for determining the optimal dipole number. The potential errors can be calculated by the Powell algorithm with the concentric 4-sphere head model and 32 electrodes, then the number of dipoles is determined by the information criterion method with the potential errors mentioned above. This method has the advantages of a high identification accuracy of dipole number and a small number of EEG data because in this method: (1) only one EEG topography is used in the computation, (2) 32 electrodes are used to obtain the EEG data, (3) the optimal dipole number can be obtained by this method. In order to prove our method to be efficient, precise and robust to noise, 10% white noise is introduced to test this method theoretically. Some investigations are presented here to show our method is an advanced approach for determining the optimal dipole number.

The electroencephalogram (EEG) has become a widely used tool for investigating brain function. Brain signal source localization is a process of inverse calculation from sensor information (electric potentials for EEG) to the identification of multiple brain sources to obtain the locations and orientation parameters. In this paper, we describe a combination of the backpropagation neural network (BPNN) with the nonlinear least-square (NLS) method to localize two dipoles with reasonable accuracy and speed from EEG data computerized by two dipoles randomly positioned in the brain. The trained BPNN, obtains the initial values for the two dipoles through fast calculation and also avoids the influence of noise. Then the NLS method (Powell algorithm) is used to accurately estimate the two dipole parameters. In this study, we also obtain the minimum distance between the assumed dipole pair, 0.8 cm, in order to localize two sources from a smaller limited distance between the dipole pair. The present simulation results demonstrate that the combined method can allow us to localize two dipoles with high speed and accuracy, that is, in 20 seconds and with the position error of around 6.5%, and to reduce the influence of noise.