Portable Wireless and Fibreless fNIRS Headband Compares Favorably to a Stationary Headcap-based System Friesen, C. L., MSc1-3¶, Lawrence, M., PhD1,2¶, Ingram, T. J. G., PT, MSc1-3&, Smith, M. M. BEng2&, Hamilton, E., A., BEng2&, Holland, C. W., MSc3,5&, Neyedli, H. F., PhD3-5&, Boe, S. G., MPT, PhD1,3,4,6B¶* 1 Laboratory for Brain Recovery and Function, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada B3H4R1 2 Axem Neurotechnology, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3J3K5 3 Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax Nova Sco-tia, Canada B3H4R2 4 School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H4R2 5 Cognitive and Motor Performance Laboratory, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H4R2 6 School of Physiotherapy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H4R2 Corresponding author: E-Mail: s.boe@dal.ca (SGB) ¶These authors contributed equally to this work. &These authors also contributed equally to this work. Abstract This study’s purpose is to characterize the performance of a prototype functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) headband meant to enable quick and easy measurements from the sensorimotor cortices. The fact that fNIRS is well-suited to ergonomic designs (i.e., their ability to be made wireless, their relative robustness to movement artifacts among other characteristics) has resulted in many recent examples of novel ergonomic fNIRS systems; however, the optical nature of fNIRS measurement presents an inherent challenge to measurement at areas of the brain underlying haired parts of the head. It is for this reason that the majority of ergonomic fNIRS systems that have been devel-oped to date target the prefrontal cortex. In the present study we compared the per-formance of a novel, portable fNIRS headband compared with a stationary full headcap fNIRS system to measure sensorimotor activity during simple upper- and lower-extremity tasks, in healthy individuals >50 years of age. Both fNIRS systems demon-strated the expected pattern of hemodynamic activity in both upper- and lower-extremity tasks, and a comparison of the contrast-to-noise ratio between the two sys-tems suggests the prototype fNIRS headband is non-inferior to a full head cap fNIRS system regarding the ability to detect a physiological response at the sensorimotor cor-tex during these tasks. These results suggest the use of a wireless and fibreless fNIRS design is feasible for measurement at the sensorimotor cortex.