Functional Electrical Stimulation

In this video we show how functional electrical stimulation supports the restauration of basic mobility of an end-user hand. By coupling EEG with electrical muscle stimulation we can allow a patient to voluntarily control the movement of a paralyzed limb.

In the video a patient of the SUVAcare rehabilitation clinic in Sion (Switzerland) uses a brain-computer interface (BCI) to help him recover the mobility of his paralyzed right arm. The EEG reads his brain waves as he concentrates on moving his hand; the computer recognizes the pattern and then sends an impulse in the electrodes stimulating the arm's muscles.

In some cases, intensive training using this system has allowed the patients to regain control of the limb and keep it without assistance.

Telepresence Robot

This video was shot during a live demo at the European Future Technologies Conference and Exhibition 2011, Budapest, Hungary (http://www.fet11.eu/)
The goal of the telepresence robot is to enable people to interact remotely with their friends and family, therefore it equipped with a screen, microphone and a webcam so that video-chat software such as Skype can be used. It also has a number of proximity sensors and a computer vision algorithm that enable it to detect potential obstacles.
In this video, you can see the telepresence robot being driven in an unconstrained, dynamic environment with a remote BCI. The video stream from the onboard webcam is displayed to the user to facilitate navigation, whilst the output of the BCI feedback is represented by a horizontal bar on the screen. The user performs left and right hand motor imagery to issue high-level "turn left" and "turn right" commands respectively. The shared controller on the robot interprets these commands, given the environmental context, and when no commands are sent by the user, the robot moves forwards whilst automatically avoiding obstacles where necessary.

FES Hand Orthosis for Long-term Use

This video demonstrates how the BCI can help a person without motor control of his/her hand grasping an object. In this experiment, the user wants to grasp a bottle. Using his own residual motor capabilities, he positions his hand close to the bottle. Then with the help of the BCI he stimulated his paralyzed muscles to grasp the object. The hand orthosis facilitates grasping and is conceived for long-term use as the electrical stimulation can be switched off after the task is executed to avoid muscular fatigue of the user.

In summary:
- the functional electrical stimulation (FES) allows the activation of paralyzed muscles, which are still innervated.
- the orthosis synchronizes the finger movements, and provide a more natural force distribution.
- finally it reduces fatigue since the electrical stimulation can be switched off after locking/grasping.

Hybrid-Brain Computer Interface (h-BCI)

This video demonstrates the basic concept of the use of a hybrid-Brain Computer Interface (h-BCI), i.e. a combination of a brain switch and a shoulder position sensor, for control of an arm neuroprosthesis based on Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) and a mechanical orthosis.

The subject uses imagination of foot movements to initiate the brain switch and generates an additional analog control signal by moving his shoulder. These signals are used to control stimulation impulses of surface electrodes mounted on the arm of subject together with an upper and lower arm orthosis. The subject, with the help of the BCI and orthosis, grasps the pencil, lifts it to a higher surface and signs a document. When the task is finished he deactivates the BCI with the shoulder sensor.

The subject can switch through predefined control modes (incl. a pause mode) and controls the degree of elbow flexion / extension or the degree of hand opening /closing by movements of his shoulder.

Text Entry with the Hex-O-Speller

h-BCI Controlled Arm FES-Orthosis

This video demonstrates the basic concept of the use of a hybrid-Brain Computer Interface (h-BCI), i.e. a combination of a brain switch and a shoulder position sensor, for control of a arm neuroprosthesis based on Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) and a mechanical orthosis.

The subject uses imagination of foot movements to initiate the brain switch and generates an additional analog control signal by moving his shoulder. These signals are used to control stimulation impulses of surface electrodes mounted on the arm of subject together with an upper and lower arm orthosis.
The subject, with the help of the BCI and orthosis, grasps the cup. When the task is finished he deactivates the BCI with the shoulder sensor.

The subject can switch through predefined control modes (incl. a pause mode) and controls the degree of elbow flexion / extension or the degree of hand opening /closing by movements of his shoulder.

Web Browsing with Assistive Technology

The BCI to QualiWorld interface enables control by simultaneously processing BCI-actuated commands and AT events, in a shared control approach.

QualiWORLD sequentially scans the controls of the focused menu. The BCI user performs two different MI tasks to move the feedback bar either left or right. Upon reaching the end of the designated area, the respective command is communicated to QualiWORLD.

“Right” command selects the scanned element, while “left” command is used to navigate among different menus.

The shared control prevents erroneous actions (e.g. closing the application) and decides the effects of the “left” command according to the application.

Text Editor with Assistive Technology Software.

In this demonstration, the user writes using our Assistive Techology Software.

The system automatically scans slowly the group, then the row and finally the character.

“Right” command selects the scanned group, row or character. “Left” command reverses the scanning order to speed up character typing.

Multitasking: Writing with a BCI-FES Orthosis

This experiment shows:

- the use of Non-Invasive Neuroprosthetics controlled by a BCI and activating the subject muscles.
- Asynchronous operation
- Natural interaction paradigm: same hand used for BCI imagination and FES stimulation and writing
- Multitasking and daily living

Controlling an Artificial Arm with BCI

This video in German gives a plain explanation on how to control an artificial arm with the help of a BCI system.

Brain Painting with BCI

In the video we show those specific steps:
1. The participant concentrates on a specific item of the command matrix displayed on the screen. This elicits a brain response (ERP) which can be detected the BCI.
2. The ERP serves as a trigger signal for the BCI device, detected by electrodes mounted on specific positions on the head of the participant.
3. By selecting size, shape, color and cursor position from the matrix a painting is created by the user.

Below are examples of images created by severely motor impaired people using a BCI device and the brain painting application.