Brain-Computer Interfaces

1
Brain-Computer Interfaces

• James Brooks
• BME 281 Presentation 1

2
What are BCI?

• Brain-computer interfaces are direct pathways of
  communication between the brain and some external
  device.
• Robotic arms

3
History

• 1924 Invention of Electroencephalography (EEG,
  Hans Berger)
• Identified brain waves, led to brain mapping
• 1969 UWash School of Medicine showed monkeys
  could control biofeedback meter arm with neural
  activity 2
• 1970s research into teaching monkeys to control
  their firing patterns and get rewards
• Developed algorithms for neural firing patterns
• 1980s found a relationship function(cosine-based
  ) for electrical responses and corresponding
  movement in rhesus macaque monkeys

4
Medical Rehabilitation Uses

• Brain damaged by stroke
• BCI used to teach patient how to move muscles to
  which the brain has forgotten how to control

5
Communication

• Communication with patients that have
  motor-neural disabilities
• Locked-In Syndrome
• Attach patient to BCI, output as cursor movement

6
Gaming

• Mindflex EEG controlled obstacle course (2007)
• OCZ Technology (2008) created a device for
  playing games controlled by EMG
• NeuroSky Star Wars Force Trainer (2009)

7
Invasive(I) BCI

• Most accurate signal
• Accuracy fades over time
• Damage to the brain, bodies defenses attack
  foreign object, scar tissue
• Most risky
• Can cause damage to brain, leaves brain exposed

8
Non-Invasive(NI) BCI

• Less accurate signal
• Cranium alters the signals that are picked up
  from the brain, can cause problems
• Less risky
• Brain isnt exposed, less risk to overall health

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Partially Invasive BCI

• More accurate than NI-BCI, more risky
• Less accurate than I-BCI, less risky
• Placed under the skull, but not in the brain
• Electrocorticography, like non-invasive EEG
• This technique was used when the neural
  differences between vowels and consonants were
  discovered

10
Ethical Considerations

• How can you obtain consent for a BCI from someone
  that cant communicate?
• Do the benefits outweigh the risks?
• What happens if someone wants to keep a thought
  secret and BCI detects it?
• What is the limit of what we will do with BCI?
• Could people use BCI to interrogate someone?

11
Future

• Gaming
• Remote control through the brain of devices
• Internet access for the brain
• Neural controlled prosthetics

12
References

• Andersson P, Pluim J, Viergever M, Ramsey N.
  Navigation of a Telepresence Robot via Covert
  Visuospatial Attention and Real-time fMRI.
  ltwww.springlink.com/conttent/41458747m3t57461/full
  text.pdfgt
• Wikipedia Brain-Computer Interfaces.
  lthttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-computer_inter
  facegt
• Kaufmann T, Völker S, Gunesch L, Kübler A.
  Spelling is Just a Click Away- A User-Centred
  Brain-Computer Interface Including
  Auto-Calibration and Predictive Text Entry.
  lthttp//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC34009
  42/gt
• Kübler A, Neumann N. Brain Computer
  Interfacesthe Key for the Conscious Brain Locked
  in a Paralyzed Body. ltwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
  16186045gt