The biggest challenge with monitoring EEG is artifact recognition and elimination.

There are patient related artifacts (e.g. movement, sweating, ECG, eye movements) and technical artifacts (50/60 Hz artifact, cable movements, electrode paste-related), which have to be handled differently. There are some tools for finding the artifacts. For example, FEMG and impedance measurements can be used for indicating contaminated signal. By looking at different parameters on a monitor, other interference may be found.

Electrodes used in EEG recording do not discriminate the electrical signals they receive. The recorded activity which is not of cerebral origin is termed artifact and can be divided into physiologic (generated from the subject from sources other than the brain) and extraphysiologic artifacts arise from outside the body (equipment including the electrodes and the environment).