Summary: A newly designed compact device for recording brain activity has a customizable configuration and could help people with restricted mobility regain control of their limbs or provide advanced warnings of epileptic seizures.
Source: SkolTech
Scientists from Skoltech, South Ural State University, and elsewhere have developed a device for recording brain activity that is more compact and affordable than the solutions currently on the market.
With its high signal quality and customizable configuration, the device could help people with restricted mobility regain control of their limbs or provide advance warnings of an impending seizure to patients with epilepsy.
Theย articleย presenting the device and testing results came out inย Experimental Brain Research.
Researchers and medics, as well as engineers working on futuristic gadgets, need tools that measure brain activity. Among their scientific applications are research on sleep, decision-making, memory, and attention. In a clinical setting, these tools allow doctors to assess the extent of damage to an injured brain and monitor coma patients.
Further down cyberpunk lane, brain signals can be translated into commands and sent to an external or implanted device, either to makeย up for lost functions in the body or for plain fun. The commands could range from moving the arm ofย an exoskeleton worn by a paralyzed person to turning on the TV.
Invented about a century ago, electroencephalographers are devices that read the electrical activity of the brain via small electrodes placed on the scalp. The recorded signals are then used for research, diagnostics, or gadgetry. The problem with the existing systems used in labs and hospitals is they are bulky and/or expensive. And even then, the number of electrodes is limited, resulting in moderate signal quality. Amateur devices tend to be more affordable, but with even poorer sensitivity.
To fill that gap, researchers from South Ural State University, North Carolina State University, and Brainflowย โ led by electronic research engineer Ildar Rakhmatulin and Skoltech neuroscientist Professor Mikhail Lebedevย โ created a device you can build for just $350, compared with the $1,000 or more you would need for currently available analogs.
Besides being less expensive, theย new electroencephalographer has as many as 24 electrodes or more. Importantly, itย also provides research-grade signal quality. At half aย centimeter inย diameterย (about 1/5 inches), the processing unit is compact enough to be worn throughout the day or during the night. The entire device weighs about 150 gramsย (about 5ย ounces).
The researchers have made the instructions for building the device and the accompanying documentation and software openly available on GitHub. The team hopes this will attract more enthusiasts involved in brain-computer interface development, giving an impetus to support and rehabilitation system development, cognitive research, and pushing the geek community to come up with new futuristic gizmos.
โThe more convenient and affordable such devices become, the more chances there are this would drive the home lab movement, with some of the research on brain-computer interfaces migrating from large science centers to small-scale amateur projects,โ Lebedev said.
โOr we could see people with limited mobility using do-it-yourself interfaces to train, say, a smartphone-based system that would electrically stimulate a biceps to flex the arm at the elbow,โ the researcher went on. โThat works on someone who has lost control over their arm due to spinal cord trauma or a stroke, where the commands are still generated in the brain โ they just donโt reach the limb, and thatโs where our little brain-computer interfacing comes in.โ
According to the team, such interfaces could also help patients with epilepsy by detecting tell-tale brain activity patterns that indicate when a seizure is imminent, so they can prepare by lying down comfortably in a safe space or attempting to suppress the seizure via electrical stimulation.
About this neurotech research news
Author: Ilyana Zolotareva
Source: SkolTech
Contact: Ilyana Zolotareva – SkolTech
Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Closed access.
“Low-cost brain computer interface for everyday use” by Mikhail Lebedev et al. Experimental Brain Research
Abstract
Low-cost brain computer interface for everyday use
With the growth in electroencephalography (EEG) based applicationsย the demand for affordable consumer solutions is increasing.
Here we describe a compact, low-cost EEG device suitable for daily use.ย The data are transferredย from the device to a personal server using the TCP-IP protocol,ย allowing for wireless operationย and a decent range of motion for the user. The device is compact, having a circular shape with a radius of only 25ย mm, which would allow for comfortable daily use during both daytime and nighttime.
Our solution is also very cost effective, approximately $350 for 24 electrodes.ย The built-in noise suppression capabilityย improves the accuracy ofย recordings with a peak input noise below 0.35ย ฮผV.
Here, we provide the results of the tests for the developed device.
On our GitHub page, we provide detailed specification of the steps involved in buildingย this EEG device whichย should be helpful to readers designing similar devices for their needsย https://github.com/Ildaron/ironbci.
