Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
17
Landscape
in Assistive Technology
E. Pasqualotto, S. Federici, M. Olivetti Belardinelli, and N. Birbaumer
CONTENTS
17.1 What Is a Brain-Computer Interface? ........................................................................... 379
17.2 Measuring Brain Activity ............................................................................................... 381
17.2.1 EEG ...................................................................................................................... 381
17.2.2 MEG ..................................................................................................................... 381
17.2.3 fMRI ..................................................................................................................... 381
17.2.4 fNIRS ................................................................................................................... 382
17.3 History of BCIs ................................................................................................................. 382
17.4 Communication ................................................................................................................ 384
17.4.1 Potential Users .................................................................................................... 384
17.4.2 Development ....................................................................................................... 385
17.5 Motor Restoration ............................................................................................................ 387
17.5.1 Potential Users .................................................................................................... 387
17.5.2 BCI in Movement Restoration .......................................................................... 388
17.6 BCI and Behavioral Disorders ....................................................................................... 389
17.6.1 Epilepsy and ADHD .......................................................................................... 389
17.6.2 Neurofeedback in Epilepsy and ADHD ......................................................... 389
17.7 Assistive Technologies and BCI ..................................................................................... 390
17.8 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 391
Summary of the Chapter ............................................................................................................ 392
References ..................................................................................................................................... 393
17.1 What Is a Brain-Computer Interface?
A brain-computer interface (BCI) provides a direct connection between the brain and
an external device, such as a computer or any other system capable of receiving a signal.
In June 1999, the First International Meeting on Brain-Computer Interface Technology
took place at the Rensselaerville Institute (Albany, NY). The aims of this first meeting,
which 50 researchers from 22 different research groups attended, were to review the
state of the art of BCI research and to define a shared set of procedures, methods, and
definitions. During this meeting, it was established that “a brain-computer interface is a
communication system that does not depend on the brain's normal output pathways of
peripheral nerves and muscles” (Wolpaw et al. 2000). In a BCI, neuromuscular activity
is not necessary for the production of the activity that is needed to convey the message
(Pasqualotto et al. 2011a).
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