Live EEG Amplitude Heatmap
Context
A platform for live EEG visualization, including multiple widgets for real-time brain activity monitoring. The amplitude map provides a real-time overview of brain activity, originally built ~10 years ago as a non-real-time visualization.
Challenge
Requirements evolved to live updates, but the existing SVG-based implementation performed full redraws on every data update. Performance degraded rapidly as data streamed in, making the visualization unusable for real-time monitoring.
Solution
Rewrote the rendering engine using Canvas with incremental drawing instead of full redraws. Optimized the data pipeline to only process and render changed regions, maintaining a stable frame rate with continuous data updates.
Result
Achieved a 20x rendering speed improvement — from 3–4 FPS to a stable 60 FPS. Smooth scrolling and real-time updates with no frame drops during continuous data streaming.