BRAIN –COMPUTER INTERFACE

Mahadeva prasad N

1
 Contents
1. INTRODUCTION

2. TECHNOLOGY
 INVASIVE BCI
 PARTIALLY-INVASIVE BCI
 NON-INVASIVE BCI

3. LIMITATIONS

4. APPLICATIONS OF BCI

o Bioengineering applications
o Human subject monitoring
o Neuroscience research
o Man – Machine Interaction
o Military Applications
o Gaming
o Counter terrorism

5. PRESENT AND FUTURE

6. CONCLUSION

7. REFERENCES

2
 ABSTRACT

As the power of modern computers grows alongside our

understanding of the human brain, we move ever closer to making some
pretty spectacular science fiction into reality. Imagine transmitting
signals directly to someone's brain that would allow them to see, hear
or feel specific sensory inputs. Consider the potential to manipulate
computers or machinery with nothing more than a thought. It isn't about
convenience, for severely disabled people, development of a brain-
computer interface (BCI) could be the most important technological
breakthrough in decades.
A Brain-computer interface, sometimes called a direct neural
interface or a brain-machine interface, is a direct communication
pathway between a brain and an external device. It is the ultimate in
development of human-computer interfaces or HCI. BCIs being the
recent development in HCI there are many realms to be explored. After
experimentation three types of BCIs have been developed namely
Invasive BCIs, Partially-invasive BCIs, Non-invasive BCIs.

1. INTRODUCTION

Systems capable of understanding the different facets of

human communication and interaction with computers are
among trends in Human-Computer Interfaces (HCI). An HCI
which is built on the guiding principle (GP): “think and make

3
it happen without any physical effort” is called a brain-
computer interface (BCI). Indeed, the “think” part of the GP
involves the human brain, “make it happen” implies that an
executor is needed (here the executor is a computer) and
“without any physical effort” means that a direct interface
between the human brain and the computer is required. To
make the computer interpret what the brain intends to
communicate necessitates monitoring of the brain activity.

2. TYPES OF BCIs

2.1. INVASIVE BCI

Invasive BCI research has targeted repairing damaged sight and

providing new functionality to paralysed people. Invasive BCIs are
implanted directly into the grey matter of the brain during
neurosurgery. Using chips implanted against the brain that have
hundreds of pins less than the width of a human hair protruding from
them and penetrating the cerebral cortex, scientists are able to read the
firings of hundreds of neurons in the brain. The language of the neural
firings is then sent to a computer translator that uses special algorithms
to decode the neural language into computer language. This is then sent
to another computer that receives the translated information and tells
the machine what to do. As they rest in the grey matter, invasive
devices produce the highest quality signals of BCI

4
devices but are prone to scar-tissue build-up, causing the signal to
become weaker or even lost as the body reacts to a foreign object in the
brain.

2.2. PARTIALLY-INVASIVE BCI

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, but the electrodes are embedded in
a thin plastic pad that is placed above the cortex, beneath the dura

5
materECoG is a very promising intermediate BCI modality because it
has higher spatial resolution, better signal-to-noise ratio, wider
frequency range, and lesser 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.

2.3. NON-INVASIVE BCI

The easiest and least invasive method is a set of electrodes,this
device known as an electroencephalograph (EEG) -- attached to the
scalp. The electrodes can read brain 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, which displayed the signals via
pens that automatically wrote out the patterns on a continuous sheet of
paper. Even though the skull blocks a lot of the electrical signal, and it
distorts what does get through it is more accepted than the other types
because of their respective disadvantages.

6
3. ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM BASED BCI

Electroencephalography (EEG) is the recording of electrical

activity along the scalp produced by the firing of neurons within the
brain.

Among the possible choices the scalp recorded

electroencephalogram (EEG) appears to be an adequate alternative
because of its good time resolution and relative simplicity.
Furthermore, there is clear evidence that observable changes in EEG
result from performing given mental activities. The BCI system is

7
subdivided into three subsystems, namely EEG acquisition, EEG
signal processing and output generation.

General BCI architecture

The EEG acquisition subsystem is composed of an electrode

array arranged according to the 10-20 international system and a

8
digitization device. The acquired signals are often noisy and may
contain artefacts due to muscular and ocular movements.The EEG
signal processing subsystem is subdivided into a preprocessing unit,
responsible for artefact detection, and a feature extraction and
recognition unit that determines the command sent by the user to the
BCI. This command is in turn sent to the output subsystem which
generates a “system answer” that constitutes a feedback to the user who
can modulate his mental activities so as to produce those EEG patterns
that make the BCI accomplish his intents. Figure 5 illustrates the basic
scheduling of our BCI. The BCI period is the average time between two
consecutive answers and the EEG trial duration is the duration of EEG
that the BCI needs to analyze in order to generate an answer. We
assume that every EEG trial elicits a system answer.

BCI scheduling

9
 We call “neutral state” when nothing happens (the BCI provides
a neutral answer), the “active state” when the BCI executes something,
the “neutral EEG set” as composed of those EEG trials that elicit the
neutral answer and the “active EEG set” the complement of the neutral
EEG set. The ideal BCI is a two-state machine whose state changes
occur at a rate defined by the BCI period and are determined by a
Boolean variable B1 (activation) which becomes true when the BCI
detects an element of the active EEG set and false otherwise (Figure
6).

Figure 6: Ideal BCI

The ideal BCI behave properly when the recognition error rate is
near zero.
In a real application, the false positive error (the system switches to
the active state while the corresponding EEG trial belongs to the
neutral EEG set) and the false negative error (the system switches to
the neutral state while the corresponding EEG trial belongs to the
active set) are not zero. Depending on the application, these errors are
differently penalized.

10
 We propose a less ideal BCI by introducing a transition state so
that the BCI cannot switch from the neutral to the active state
immediately. The BCI remains in the transition state as long as a
second Boolean variable B2 (confirmation) is false (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Less ideal BCI

B2 is true if the L (latency parameter) previous EEG trials are equally recognized as the current EEG
trial. In practice, for the sake of user comfort the value of L multiplied by the BCI period should not exceed two
seconds.

The BCI parameters are summarized in the following table:

Table 1

The optimal values for the BCI parameters are determined in the training phase. However, they should
be continuously updated in order to take into account possible variations in the EEG caused by different brain’s
background activities over time. Thus, BCI operation requires constant training and adaptation from both, the
user and the computer.

11
4. HOW BCI WORKS

Present BCI’s use EEG activity recorded at the scalp to control

cursor movement, select letters or icons, or operate a neuroprosthesis.
The central element in each BCI is a translation algorithm that
converts electrophysiological input from the user into output that
controls external devices. BCI operation depends on effective
interaction between two adaptive controllers: the user who encodes
his or her commands in the electrophysiological input provided to the
BCI, and the computer which recognizes the command contained in
the input and expresses them in the device control.
Current BCI’s have maximum information transfer rates of 5-25
bits/min.

The common structure of a Brain Computer

Interface is the following :

1) Signal Acquisition:
the EEG signals are obtained from the brain through invasive or
non-invasive methods (for example, electrodes). After, the
signal is amplified and sampled.
2) Signal Pre-Processing:
once the signals are acquired, it is necessary to clean them.
3) Signal Classification:

12
 once the signals are cleaned, they will be processed and
classified to find out which kind of mental task the subject is
performing.
4) Computer Interaction:
once the signals are classified, they will be used by an
appropriate algorithm for the development of a certain
application.

Figure 8:BCI common structure

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.

Achievement of greater speed and accuracy depends on improvements in:

• Signal acquisition:
Methods for increasing signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), signal-tointerference
ratio (S/I)) as well as optimally combining spatial and temporal information.

13
• Single trial analysis:
Overcoming noise and interference in order to avoid averaging and maximize bit rate.

• Co-learning:
Jointly optimizing combined man-machine system and taking advantage of feedback.

• Experimental paradigms for interpretable readable signals:

Mapping the task to the brain state of the user (or vice versa).

• Understanding algorithms and models within the context of the neurobiology:

Building predictive models having neurophysiologically meaningful parameters
and incorporating physically and biologically meaningful priors.

5. LIMITATIONS

1. The brain is incredibly complex. To say that all thoughts or

actions are the result of simple electric signals in the brain is a
gross understatement. There are about 100 billion neurons in a
human brain. Each neuron is constantly sending and receiving
signals through a complex web of connections. There are
chemical processes involved as well, which EEGs can't pick up
on.
2. The signal is weak and prone to interference. EEGs measure
tiny voltage potentials. Something as simple as the blinking
eyelids of the subject can generate much stronger signals.
Refinements in EEGs and implants will probably overcome this
problem to some extent in the future, but for now, reading brain
signals is like listening to a bad phone connection. There's lots of
static.

14
 3. The equipment is less than portable. It's far better than it
used to be -- early systems were hardwired to massive mainframe
computers. But some BCIs still require a wired connection to the
equipment, and those that are wireless require the subject to carry
a computer that can weigh around 10 pounds. Like all technology,
this will surely become lighter and more wireless in the future.

6. APPLICATIONS OF BCI

6.1. Bioengineering applications

Brain-computer interfaces have a great potential for allowing

patients with severe neurological disabilities to return to interaction
with society through communication and prosthetic devices that
control the environment as well as the ability to move within that
environment..

15
6.2. Human subject monitoring
Sleep disorders, neurological diseases, attention,
monitoring, and/or overall "mental state".

6.3. Neuroscience research

Real-time methods for correlating observable behavior
with recorded neural signals.

6.4. Man – Machine Interaction

Interface devices between human and computers,
Machines.

6.5. Military Applications

The United States military has begun to explore possible
applications of BCIs beginning in 2008 to enhance troop

16
 performance as well as a possible development by
adversaries.

6.6. Gaming
Computer game have gone hands-off because of
development in BCI.

People playing ping-pong using BCI

6.7. Counter terrorism

A possible application is in Counter terrorism where a
customs official can scan photos of many hundreds of
faces.

7. PRESENT AND FUTURE

17
 The practical use of BCI technology depends on an
interdisciplinary cooperation between neuroscientists, engineers,
computer programmers, psychologists, andrehabilitation specialists, in
order to develop appropriate applications, to identify appropriate users
groups, and to pay careful attention to the needs and desires of
individual users. The prospects for controlling computers through
neural signals are indeed difficult to judge because the field of research
is still in its infancy. Much progress has
been made in taking advantage of the power of personal computers to
perform the operations needed to recognize patterns in biological
impulses, but the search for new and more useful signals still continues.
If the advances of the 21st century match the strides of the past few
decades, direct neural communication between humans and computers
may ultimately mature and find widespread use. Perhaps newly
purchased computers will one day arrive with biological signal sensors
and thought-recognition software built in, just as keyboard and mouse
are commonly found on today's units.

CONCLUSION

BCI being the considered the ultimate development in the world

of HCI there is lot expections from it. Thus this field has been
developed keeping in mind the extensive use of BCI in various
applications mainly enabling the disabled survive independently. The

18
boundaries of BCI applications are being extended rapidly and many
experiments are being conducted in this concern.

REFERENCES

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-computer_interface

2. http://mmspl.epfl.ch/webdav/site/mmspl/shared/BCI/publications/baztarricadiplomaproject.pdf

3. DIRECT BRAIN-COMPUTER COMMUNICATION WITH USER REWARDING

MECHANISM
Gary N. Garcia, Touradj Ebrahimi, Jean-Marc Vesin and Abel Villca.,pdf

Brain-Computer Interface (BCI)

Christoph Guger, Günter Edlinger, g.tec – Guger Technologies OEG
Herbersteinstr. 60, 8020 Graz, Austria, pdf

19