IRISH SCIENTISTS are developing life-altering technology which will allow people with severe physical disabilities to communicate and operate appliances with nothing more than the power of a thought, writes HELEN GALLAGHER
The University of Ulster (UU), in collaboration with the Universities of Warsaw in Poland and Bremen in Germany, have teamed up with industry giants Philips, Telefonica, and Twente Medical Systems International to make this idea a reality.
Dr Paul McCullagh of the School of Computing and Mathematics in UU explains that £2 million in EU funding has been allocated to this project under the “eInclusion” scheme which aims to improve inclusiveness for people in society who would otherwise be discluded through illness or disability.
“People who have both accidental and inherited paralysis due to brain injury, stroke, or have cerebral palsy will benefit from this technology,” he says.
It is based on the use of “brain-computer interfaces” or “BCIs”. He believes that the use of BCIs may offer hope to sufferers of Lou Gehrig’s disease, better known as “locked in syndrome” in which, McCullagh explains, “there is muscle wastage, but the brain’s cognitive function is undiminished, so it is the worst case scenario”.
"You can consider it like Christopher Reeve's Supermanharnessing brain waves to interact with the environment. So if you think about moving your left foot or your thumb, the computer interface can be tailored to use the electrical impulse from that single thought to influence a decision, for example, to open the door or change the channel on the television."
Our brains are filled with nerve cells, or neurons. When we have a thought an electric signal is sent along a path of neurons at speeds of up to 250mph, and it is this impulse which can be detected by the BCI. The brain impulses are recorded through a non-invasive electrode attached to the scalp the signal is then sent to a computer which recognises the signal.
“In this pure BCI paradigm, some people can transmit signals immediately while some can’t, and require some training to control the impulses,” McCullagh says. “This training is like a computer game where a ball is moved from one side to the other, and the trainee learns to move the cursor with their thoughts, and to distinguish the signals for up and down. It can take a number of weeks to perfect, and a small percentage of people may still have hits and misses.”
In these situations there is another approach, which McCullagh describes as “the application of external stimuli” which does not require training. “By introducing flashing lights, for example, the automatic response registered by the brain can be connected to an LED device to turn on or off the switch to open the blinds.”
The ultimate goal of the project is to have a practical system that can be used outside the laboratory, and is unobtrusive and aesthetically pleasing. “One consortium will be making very small electrodes, another will make water-based electrodes which will be easier to put on and off.
“University of Ulster will provide a common and intuitive user interface that knits everything together. It should be a common interface across all applications, a bit like using Microsoft Office, so if you can use Word you are familiar with the interface for Excel,” McCullagh adds.
The Brain Project will run for three years, and hopes to begin working with volunteers towards the end of this, its first year. “The Cedar Foundation works with people within the community to promote eInclusion, so we would hope to work with five to 10 candidates, investigating a number if iterations with each person.” The criteria for the choice of volunteers are currently being reviewed by the University of Ulster Ethics Committee.
This technology is likely to be classed as an “inclusion device” which McCullagh explains is a field in which the games industry in the US is already developing, essentially to add another channel of interaction to their games. He hopes this technology will eventually be made available to the wider population, and be used to design “smart homes”.