Newly invented NIRS/EEG brain computer interface system shown on a model. (Image by Wyss Center)
Imagine being completely paralyzed, but still have the capacity to think and feel without the ability to communicate your thoughts to others. This is what patients experience in what’s called the complete locked-in state, a state in which actions are limited to, at most, eye movements or blinks. It’s these movements that researchers have used to communicate with locked-in patients, but they have their obvious limits. A new non-invasive device drastically changes this, allowing patients to communicate merely by thinking. Researchers tested a brain-computer interface that combined near-infrared spectroscopy with EEG to measure changes in blood oxygen in the brain of four locked-in patients. Patients had to think a “yes” or “no” response to spoken questions. All trials proved successful, which makes this the first brain-computer interface effective for communication with patients in complete locked-in state.
Authors:
Ujwal Chaudhary , Bin Xia, Stefano Silvoni, Leonardo G. Cohen, Niels Birbaumer
Corresponding author:
Niels Birbaumer, Institute for Medical Psychology and Behavioural Neurobiology, University Tübingen, Germany, Email: niels.birbaumer@uni-tuebingen.
Original paper published in PLOS Biology on January 31, 2017.
