This EEG based system, which reads and uniquely processes brain signals, from researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Architecture and Software Technology promises to offer more freedoms to paralyzed patients:
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Architecture and Software Technology FIRST and the Charite hospital in Berlin have been working on this type of interface for almost seven years. For the input, they use a perfectly normal electroencephalogram (EEG), just like the ones used in everyday clinical practice. Electrodes attached to the patient’s scalp measure the brain’s electrical signals, which are amplified and transmitted to a computer. Highly efficient algorithms analyze these signals using a self-learning technique. The software is capable of detecting changes in brain activity that take place even before a movement is carried out. It can recognize and distinguish between the patterns of signals that correspond to an intention to raise the left or right hand, and extract them from the pulses being fired by millions of other neurons in the brain. These neural signal patterns are then converted into control instructions for the computer. “The aim of the project is to help people with severe motor disabilities to carry out everyday tasks. The advantage of our technology is that it is capable of translating an intended action directly into instructions for the computer,” says team leader Florin Popescu. The Brain2Robot project has been granted around 1.3 million euros in research funding under the EU’s sixth Framework Programme (FP6). Its focus lies on developing medical applications, in particular control systems for prosthetics, personal robots and wheelchairs. The researchers have also developed a “thought-controlled typewriter”, a communication device that enables severely paralyzed patients to pick out letters of the alphabet and write texts. The robot arm could be ready for commercialization in just a few years’ time.
The development team will be presenting their robot arm at Medica 2007 in Düsseldorf from November 14 to 17 (Hall 3, Stand F92).
Press release: Brain2Robot …
Project page: Brain2Robot …
Flashbacks: Medgadget brain-computer interface archives…
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