VISVESVARAYATECHNOLOGICALUNIVERSITY

Jnana Sangama, Machhe, Belagavi-590018

Technical Seminar Report on

“BRAIN COMPUTER INTERFACES”

Submitted in Partial fulfillment of

BACHELOROFENGINEERINGDEGREE
IN
ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING.

Somashekhar Betageri 2TG21EC407

Under the guidance of

Dr. Madhusudan K
HoD
Dept. of Electronics &Communication
Engineering TCE, Gadag

DEPARTMENTOFELECTRONICS &COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

TONTADARYA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING MUNDARGIROAD,
GADAG-582101
2023-2024
 S.T.S.K.K’s
TONTADARYACOLLEGEOFENGINEERING
MUNDARGIROAD, GADAG–582101

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION

ENGINEERING

CERTIFICATE

Certified that the Technical seminar work entitled “BRAIN COMPUTER INTERFACES”
carried out by SOMASHEKHAR BETAGERI, USN:2TG21EC407, a bonafide student of
Tontadarya College of Engineering, Gadag, submitted the report, in partial fulfillment for the
award of Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Electronics & Communication Engineering of the
Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi during the year 2023-24.

It is also certified that all corrections/ suggestions indicated for Internal Assessment have been
incorporated in the report and deposited in the department library. The Technical Seminar report
has been approved as it satisfies the academic requirements in respect of Technical Seminar Work
prescribed for the said Degree.

Signature of the Guide/HoD Signature of the Principal

Dr.Madhusudan .Ph.D,HoD, Dr.M.M.Awati.Ph.D.

Dept.ofElectronics&Communication Principal,
Engg. TCE,Gadag.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

When we reach the completion of the seminar, giving credit becomes a must, as without the
support of other so many people's help and guidance, this seminar could not be completed
successfully.

First, we would like to thank our parents with their great support we can reach at the stage. Our
humble thanks to all professors and all staff members of our college "TONTADARYA
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING " For the cooperation & keep interest extended by them,
throughout our degree course. It in the base that they have built, which sustains such good jobs.

I take this opportunity to thank our principal, Dr. M. M. AWATI for providing us with serene
and healthy environment within the college, which helped us in concentrating on our task

I express my deep sense of gratitude to my H.O.D/Guide Dr. MADHUSUDAN K for providing

the necessary facilities for completion of seminar and for his invaluable guidance and
encouragement.

Finally, I would like to thank my friends for their cooperation in completing this proposed topic

Thanking All
SOMASHEKHAR BETAGERI
2TG21EC407
 Abstract

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have the potential to improve the quality of life
of individuals with severe motor disabilities. BCIs capture the user's brain activity
and translate it into commands for the control of an effector, such as a computer
cursor, robotic limb, or functional electrical stimulation device. Full dexterous
manipulation of robotic and prosthetic arms via a BCI system has been a challenge
because of the inherent need to decode high dimensional and preferably real-time
control commands from the user's neural activity. Nevertheless, such functionality
is fundamental if BCI-controlled robotic or prosthetic limbs are to be used for daily
activities. In this chapter, we review how this challenge has been addressed by BCI
researchers and how new solutions may improve the BCI user experience with
robotic effectors.
 CONTENTS

CHAPTER NO TITLE PAGE NO

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER 2 BCI INPUT AND OUTPUT 3

CHAPTER 3 HUMAN BCI RESEARCH 4

CHAPTER 4 ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY 8

CHAPTER 5 MEG AND MRI 10

CHAPTER 6 APPLICATIONS 12

CHAPTER 7 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES 14

CHAPTER 8 CONCLUSION 15

CHAPTER 9 RRFERENCES 16
 LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE NAME TITLE PAGE NO

Fig 1 BCI system incorporating signal detection 2

Fig 3 Dummy unit illustrating the design of a Brain Gate interface 5

Fig 4 Recordings of brainwaves produced by an electroencephalogram 8

Fig 5 ATR Labs' reconstruction of human vision using fMRI 10

 Brain Computer Interface

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

A Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) provides a new communication channel between the human brain
and the computer. The 100 billion neurons communicate via minute electrochemical impulses, shifting
patterns sparking like fireflies on a summer evening, that produce movement, expression, words.
Mental activity leads to changes of electrophysiological signals.

The BCI system detects such changes and transforms it into a control signal . In the case of cursor
control, for example, the signal is transmitted directly from the brain to the mechanism directing the
cursor, rather than taking the normal route through the body's neuromuscular system from the brain to
the finger on a mouse.

By reading signals from an array of neurons and using computer chips and programs to translate the
signals into action, BCI can enable a person suffering from paralysis to write a book or control a
motorized wheelchair or prosthetic limb through thought alone Many physiological disorders such as
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or injuries such as high-level spinal cord injury can disrupt the
communication path between the brain and the body. This is where brain computer interface comes
into play contributing for beneficial real time services and applications .

Dept of ECE, TCE, Gadag Page 1

 Brain Computer Interface

What is Brain Computer Interface?

The Wonder Machine – Human Brain

The reason a BCI works at all is because of the way our brains function. Our brains are filled with
neurons, individual nerve cells connected to one another by dendrites and axons. Every time we
think, move, feel or remember something, our neurons are at work. That work is carried out by small
electric signals that zip from neuron to neuron as fast as 250 mph. The signals are generated by
differences in electric potential carried by ions on the membrane of each neuron.

Although the paths the signals take are insulated by something called myelin, some of the electric
signal escapes. Scientists can detect those signals, interpret what they mean and use them to direct a
device of some kind. It can also work the other way around.

For example, researchers could figure out what signals are sent to the brain by the optic nerve when
someone sees the color red. They could rig a camera that would send those exact signals into
someone's brain whenever the camera saw red, allowing a blind person to "see" without eyes.

Fig 1 Basic block diagram of a BCI system incorporating signal detection, processing and
deployment

Dept of ECE, TCE, Gadag Page 2

 Brain Computer Interface

CHAPTER 2
BCI Input and Output

One of the biggest challenges facing brain-computer interface researchers today is the basic
mechanics of the interface itself. The easiest and least invasive method is a set of electrodes -- a device
known as an electroencephalograph (EEG) -- attached to the scalp. The electrodes can read brain
signals. However, the skull blocks a lot of the electrical signal, and it distorts what does get through.

To get a higher-resolution signal, scientists can implant electrodes directly into the gray matter of the
brain itself, or on the surface of the brain, beneath the skull. This allows for much more direct reception
of electric signals and allows electrode placement in the specific area of the brain where the appropriate
signals are generated. This approach has many problems, however. It requires invasive surgery to
implant the electrodes, and devices left in the brain long-term tend to cause the formation of scar tissue
in the gray matter. This scar tissue ultimately blocks signals.

Regardless of the location of the electrodes, the basic mechanism is the same: The electrodes measure
minute differences in the voltage between neurons. The signal is then amplified and filtered. In current
BCI systems, it is then interpreted by a computer program, although you might be familiar with older
analogue encephalographs, which displayed the signals via pens that automatically wrote out the
patterns on a continuous sheet of paper.

In the case of a sensory input BCI, the function happens in reverse. A computer converts a signal, such
as one from a video camera, into the voltages necessary to trigger neurons. The signals are sent to an
implant in the proper area of the brain, and if everything works correctly, the neurons fire and the
subject receives a visual image corresponding to what the camera sees.



Dept of ECE, TCE, Gadag Page 3

 Brain Computer Interface

CHAPTER 3

Human BCI research

Invasive BCIs

Vision

Invasive BCI research has targeted repairing damaged sight and providing new functionality for people
with paralysis. Invasive BCIs are implanted directly into the grey matter of the brain during
neurosurgery. Because they lie in the grey matter, invasive devices produce the highest quality signals
of BCI devices but are prone to scar-tissue build-up, causing the signal to become weaker, or even
non-existent, as the body reacts to a foreign object in the brain.
In vision science, direct brain implants have been used to treat non-congenital (acquired) blindness.
One of the first scientists to produce a working brain interface to restore sight was private researcher
William Dobelle.

Dobelle's first prototype was implanted into "Jerry", a man blinded in adulthood, in 1978. A single-
array BCI containing 68 electrodes was implanted onto Jerry’s visual cortex and succeeded in
producing phosphenes, the sensation of seeing light. The system included cameras mounted on glasses
to send signals to the implant. Initially, the implant allowed Jerry to see shades of grey in a limited
field of vision at a low frame-rate. This also required him to be hooked up to a mainframe computer,
but shrinking electronics and faster computers made his artificial eye more portable and now enable
him to perform simple tasks unassisted.

In 2002, Jens Naumann, also blinded in adulthood, became the first in a series of 16 paying patients to
receive Dobelle’s second generation implant, marking one of the earliest commercial uses of BCIs.
The second generation device used a more sophisticated implant enabling better mapping of
phosphenes into coherent vision. Phosphenes are spread out across the visual field in what researchers
call "the starry-night effect". Immediately after his implant, Jens was able to use his imperfectly
restored vision to drive an automobile slowly around the parking area of the research institute.

Dept of ECE, TCE, Gadag Page 4

 Brain Computer Interface

Unfortunately, Dr. Dobelle died in 2004 before his processes and developments were documented.
Subsequently, when Mr. Naumann and the other patients in the program began having problems with
their vision, there was no relief and they eventually lost their "sight" again. Mr. Naumann wrote about
his experience with Dr. Dobelle's work in Search for Paradise: A Patient's Account of the Artificial
Vision Experiment and has returned to his farm in Southeast Ontario, Canada, to resume his normal
activities.

Movement

BCIs focusing on motor neuroprosthetics aim to either restore movement in individuals with paralysis
or provide devices to assist them, such as interfaces with computers or robot arms.
Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta, led by Philip Kennedy and Roy Bakay, were first to install
a brain implant in a human that produced signals of high enough quality to simulate movement. Their
patient, Johnny Ray (1944–2002), suffered from ‘locked-in syndrome’ after suffering a brain-stem
stroke in 1997. Ray’s implant was installed in 1998 and he lived long enough to start working with the
implant, eventually learning to control a computer cursor; he died in 2002 of a brain aneurysm.
Tetraplegic Matt Nagle became the first person to control an artificial hand using a BCI in 2005 as
part of the first nine-month human trial of Cyberkinetics’s BrainGate chip-implant.

Fig 3 Dummy unit illustrating the design of a BrainGate interface

Dept of ECE, TCE, Gadag Page 5

 Brain Computer Interface

More recently, research teams led by the Braingate group at Brown University and a group led by
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, both in collaborations with the United States Department of
Veterans Affairs, have demonstrated further success in direct control of robotic prosthetic limbs with
many degrees of freedom using direct connections to arrays of neurons in the motor cortex of patients
with tetraplegia.

Partially invasive BCIs

Partially invasive BCI devices are implanted inside the skull but rest outside the brain rather than
within the grey matter. They produce better resolution signals than non-invasive BCIs where the bone
tissue of the cranium deflects and deforms signals and have a lower risk of forming scar-tissue in the
brain than fully invasive BCIs.

Electrocorticography (ECoG) measures the electrical activity of the brain taken from beneath the
skull in a similar way to non-invasive electroencephalography (see below), but the electrodes are
embedded in a thin plastic pad that is placed above the cortex, beneath the dura mater.ECoG
technologies were first trialed in humans in 2004 by Eric Leuthardt and Daniel Moran from
Washington University in St Louis. In a later trial, the researchers enabled a teenage boy to play Space
Invaders using his ECoG implant.This research indicates that control is rapid, requires minimal
training, and may be an ideal tradeoff with regards to signal fidelity and level of invasiveness.

(Note: these electrodes had not been implanted in the patient with the intention of developing a BCI.
The patient had been suffering from severe epilepsy and the electrodes were temporarily implanted to
help his physicians localize seizure foci; the BCI researchers simply took advantage of this.)

Signals can be either subdural or epidural, but are not taken from within the brain parenchyma itself.
It has not been studied extensively until recently due to the limited access of subjects. Currently, the
only manner to acquire the signal for study is through the use of patients requiring invasive monitoring
for localization and resection of an epileptogenic focus.

ECoG is a very promising intermediate BCI modality because it has higher spatial resolution, better

Dept of ECE, TCE, Gadag Page 6

 Brain Computer Interface

signal-to-noise ratio, wider frequency range, and less training requirements than scalp-recorded EEG,
and at the same time has lower technical difficulty, lower clinical risk, and probably superior long-
term stability than intracortical single-neuron recording. This feature profile and recent evidence of
the high level of control with minimal training requirements shows potential for real world application
for people with motor disabilities.

Light Reactive Imaging BCI devices are still in the realm of theory. These would involve implanting
a laser inside the skull. The laser would be trained on a single neuron and the neuron's reflectance
measured by a separate sensor. When the neuron fires, the laser light pattern and wavelengths it reflects
would change slightly. This would allow researchers to monitor single neurons but require less contact
with tissue and reduce the risk of scar-tissue build-up.
Non-invasive BCIs
As well as invasive experiments, there have also been experiments in humans using non-invasive
neuroimaging technologies as interfaces. Signals recorded in this way have been used to power muscle
implants and restore partial movement in an experimental volunteer. Although they are easy to wear,
non-invasive implants produce poor signal resolution because the skull dampens signals, dispersing
and blurring the electromagnetic waves created by the neurons. Although the waves can still be
detected it is more difficult to determine the area of the brain that created them or the actions of
individual neurons.

Non-invasive BCIs

As well as invasive experiments, there have also been experiments in humans using non-invasive
neuroimaging technologies as interfaces. Signals recorded in this way have been used to power muscle
implants and restore partial movement in an experimental volunteer.

Although they are easy to wear, non-invasive implants produce poor signal resolution because the skull
dampens signals, dispersing and blurring the electromagnetic waves created by the neurons. Although
the waves can still be detected it is more difficult to determine the area of the brain that created them
or the actions of individual neurons.

Dept of ECE, TCE, Gadag Page 7

 Brain Computer Interface

CHAPTER 4

EEG

Electroencephalography (EEG) is the most studied potential non-invasive interface, mainly due to its
fine temporal resolution, ease of use, portability and low set-up cost. The technology is highly
susceptibility to noise however. Another substantial barrier to using EEG as a brain–computer interface
is the extensive training required before users can work the technology. For example, in experiments
beginning in the mid-1990s, Niels Birbaumer at the University of Tübingen in Germany trained
severely paralysed people to self-regulate the slow cortical potentials in their EEG to such an extent
that these signals could be used as a binary signal to control a computer cursor.(Birbaumer had earlier
trained epileptics to prevent impending fits by controlling this low voltage wave.) The experiment saw
ten patients trained to move a computer cursor by controlling their brainwaves. The process was slow,
requiring more than an hour for patients to write 100 characters with the cursor, while training often
took many months.

Another research parameter is the type of oscillatory activity that is measured. Birbaumer's later
research with Jonathan Wolpaw at New York State University has focused on developing technology
that would allow users to choose the brain signals they found easiest to operate a BCI, including mu
and beta rhythms.

Dept of ECE, TCE, Gadag Page 8

 Brain Computer Interface

Fig 4 Recordings of brainwaves produced by an electroencephalogram

A further parameter is the method of feedback used and this is shown in studies of P300 signals.
Patterns of P300 waves are generated involuntarily (stimulus-feedback) when people see something
they recognize and may allow BCIs to decode categories of thoughts without training patients first. By
contrast, the biofeedback methods described above require learning to control brainwaves so the

resulting brain activity can be detected.

While an EEG based brain-computer interface has been pursued extensively by a number of research
labs, recent advancements made by Bin He and his team at the University of Minnesota suggest the
potential of an EEG based brain-computer interface to accomplish tasks close to invasive brain-
computer interface. Using advanced functional neuroimaging including BOLD functional MRI and
EEG source imaging, Bin He and co-workers identified the co-variation and co-localization of
electrophysiological and hemodynamic signals induced by motor imagination. Refined by a
neuroimaging approach and by a training protocol, Bin He and co-workers demonstrated the ability of
a non-invasive EEG based brain-computer interface to control the flight of a virtual helicopter in 3-
dimensional space, based upon motor imagination. In June 2013 it was announced that Bin He had
developed the technique to enable a remote-control helicopter to be guided through an obstacle course.

In addition to a brain-computer interface based on brain waves, as recorded from scalp EEG electrodes,
Bin He and co-workers explored a virtual EEG signal-based brain-computer interface by first solving
the EEG inverse problem and then used the resulting virtual EEG for brain-computer interface tasks.
Well-controlled studies suggested the merits of such a source analysis based brain-computer interface.

Dept of ECE, TCE, Gadag Page 9

 Brain Computer Interface


CHAPTER 5
MEG and MRI


Magnetoencephalography (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have both been
used successfully as non-invasive BCIs. In a widely reported experiment, fMRI allowed two users
being scanned to play Pong in real-time by altering their haemodynamic response or brain blood flow
through biofeedback techniques.
fMRI measurements of haemodynamic responses in real time have also been used to control robot
arms with a seven second delay between thought and movement.
In 2008 research developed in the Advanced Telecommunications Research (ATR) Computational
Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan, allowed the scientists to reconstruct images directly from
the brain and display them on a computer in black and white at a resolution of 10x10 pixels. The article
announcing these achievements was the cover story of the journal Neuron of 10 December 2008.

Fig 5: ATR Labs' reconstruction of human vision using fMRI

(top row: original image; bottom row: reconstruction from mean of combined readings)

Dept of ECE, TCE, Gadag Page 10

 Brain Computer Interface

In 2011 researchers from UC Berkeley published a study reporting second-by-second reconstruction

of videos watched by the study's subjects, from fMRI data. This was achieved by creating a statistical
model relating visual patterns in videos shown to the subjects, to the brain activity caused by watching
the videos. This model was then used to look up the 100 one-second video segments, in a database of
18 million seconds of random YouTube videos, whose visual patterns most closely matched the brain
activity recorded when subjects watched a new video. These 100 one-second video extracts were then
combined into a mashed-up image that resembled the video being watched.




Dept of ECE, TCE, Gadag Page 11

 Brain Computer Interface

CHAPTER 6
Applications

Device control

Research on BCIs to assist users lacking full limb development has matured to the point that such users
are already benefiting, even though the devices offer limited speed, accuracy, and efficiency.

Nonmedical device control is more problematic. Users with full muscular control cannot benefit as
easily because a BCI lacks the bandwidth and accuracy to compete with a standard input device, such
as a mouse or keyboard. Introducing a shared control scheme would enable the user to give high-level,
open-loop commands while the device takes care of low-level control.

Additional control channels or hands-free control could benefit users such as drivers, divers, and
astronauts, who must keep their hands on controls to operate equipment. Brain-based control
paradigms could supplement other forms of hands-free control, such as a voice command or eye
movement.

User-state monitoring

Future interfaces must be able to understand and anticipate the user's state and intentions. Automobiles
could alert sleepy drivers, or virtual humans could convince users to stick to their diet.

BCIs might also be useful in neuroscientific research. Because they can monitor the acting brain in
real time and in the real world, BCIs could help scientists understand the role of functional networks
during behavioral tasks.

Dept of ECE, TCE, Gadag Page 12

 Brain Computer Interface

Evaluation

Evaluation applications can be either online or offline. The former continuously provide evaluations,
in real or near real time; the latter provide evaluations only once, after the experimental study is
finished. Neuroergonomics and neuromarketing are two application subareas.

Training and education

Most training aspects relate to the brain and its plasticity - the brain's ability to change, grow, and
remap itself. Measuring plasticity can help improve training methods and individual training regimens.

Gaming and entertainment

Over the past few years, companies such as Neurosky, Emotiv, Uncle Milton, MindGames, and Mattel
have released numerous products. Most developers are convinced that BCIs will enrich the gaming
and entertainment experience in games tailored to the user's affective state - immersion, flow,
frustration, surprise, and so on.

Cognitive improvement

A common nonmedical application involving a BCI is neurofeedback training, in which operant

conditioning alters brain activity to improve attention, working memory, and executive functions.

The line between medical and nonmedical neurofeedback applications is likely to be thin, but a
nonmedical application might be the optimized presentation of learning content.

Safety and security

Safety and security EEG alone or combined EEG and eye movement data from expert observers could
support the detection of deviant behavior and suspicious objects. Also, image inspection might be
faster than is possible with current methods.

Dept of ECE, TCE, Gadag Page 13

 Brain Computer Interface



CHAPTER 7

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages of BCI:

Eventually, this technology could:

 allow paralyzed people to control prosthetic limbs with their mind

 transmit visual images to the mind of a blind person, allowing them to see

 transmit auditory data to the mind of a def person, allowing them to hear

 allow gamers to control video games with their minds

 allow a mute person to have their thoughts displayed and spoken by a computer

Disadvantages of BCI:

 Research is still in beginning stages

 The current technology is crude

 Ethical issues may prevent its development

 Electrodes outside of the skull can detect very few electric signals from the brain

 Electrodes placed inside the skull create scar tissue in the brain

Dept of ECE, TCE, Gadag Page 14

 Brain Computer Interface


CHAPTER 8

Conclusion

The ability of computers to enhance and augment both mental and physical abilities and potential is
no longer the exclusive realm of science fiction writers. It is becoming a reality. Brain Computer
Interface technology will help define the potential of the human race. It holds the promise of
bringing sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and the return of normal functionality to the
physically impaired. A miracle? Hardly. But perhaps the next closest thing.

As BCI technology further advances, brain tissue may one day give way to implanted silicon chips
thereby creating a completely computerized simulation of the human brain that can be augmented at
will. Futurists predict that from there, superhuman artificial intelligence won't be far behind.



Dept of ECE, TCE, Gadag Page 15

Brain Computer Interface

CHAPTER 9

References

 http://computer.howstuffworks.com/brain-computer-

interface.htm

 http://gigaom.com/2014/01/16/control-anything-using-your-

mind-with-the-openbci-brain-computer-interface/

 http://www.braincomputerinterface.com/bci-ethics-moral-

implications/

Dept of ECE, TCE, Gadag Page 16