Evaluation of a 2-Channel NIRS-Based Optical Brain Switch for Motor Disabilities' Communication Tools

Abstract

SUMMARYWe have developed a portable NIRS-based optical BCI system that features a non-invasive, facile probe attachment and does not require muscle movement to control the target devices. The system consists of a 2-channel probe, a signal-processing unit, and an infrared-emission device, which measures the blood volume change in the participant's prefrontal cortex in a real time. We use the threshold logic as a switching technology, which transmits a control signal to a target device when the electrical waveforms exceed the pre-defined threshold. Eight healthy volunteers participated in the experiments and they could change the television channel or control the movement of a toy robot with average switching times of 11.5 ± 5.3 s and the hit rate was 83.3%. These trials suggest that this system provides a novel communication aid for people with motor disabilities. key words: brain-computer interface (BCI), brain switch, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)

fNIRS-based brain-computer interfaces: a review

“…Also, they are likely to be more effective in the case of motor-function related disability. Given these advantages, most studies have used the prefrontal activities showing promising results (Naito et al, 2007 ; Bauernfeind et al, 2008 , 2011 ; Utsugi et al, 2008 ; Luu and Chau, 2009 ; Power et al, 2010 , 2011 , 2012a , b ; Abibullaev et al, 2011 ; Falk et al, 2011 ; Tanaka and Katura, 2011 ; Abibullaev and An, 2012 ; Adhika et al, 2012 ; Chan et al, 2012 ; Hu et al, 2012 ; Moghimi et al, 2012 ; Sagara and Kido, 2012 ; Faress and Chau, 2013 ; Power and Chau, 2013 ; Stangl et al, 2013 ; Hwang et al, 2014 ; Naseer et al, 2014 ; Schudlo and Chau, 2014 ; Hong et al, 2015 ). Some of the commonly used prefrontal activities for fNIRS-BCI are mental arithmetic, music imagery, mental counting, and landscape imagery.…”

Brain-Switches for Asynchronous Brain–Computer Interfaces: A Systematic Review

“…Four EEG-based brain-switch studies introduced hybrid brain-switches that use two different BCI paradigms simultaneously (i.e., MI + SSVEP [78] and SSVEP+ERP [35,80,96]). Three studies introduced NIRS-based brain-switches based on endogenous (n = 2) [63,65] and exogenous (n = 1) [64] paradigms. Please note that, although two studies [64,65] used both EEG and NIRS simultaneously, we categorized them as NIRS-based brain-switch studies because only the NIRS was used for a brain-switch.…”

“…Table 6 shows a list of NIRS-based brain-switches. According to our investigation, there have been only three studies conducted on developing NIRS-based brain-switches [63][64][65], in which mental subtraction (MS), MI, and SSVEP were used as control tasks for the NIRS-based brain-switches, respectively. All studies have mainly used changes in oxygenated or deoxygenated hemoglobin as features for NIRS-based brain-switches.…”

“…In 2012, a study introduced by Sagara et al described the development of a NIRS-based endogenous brain switch [63], where MS was used as a control task. The NIRS-based endogenous brain-switch was operated when the blood volume exceeded a predefined threshold.…”

Control interfaces to actively support the arm function of men with Duchenn Muscular Dystrophy

“…Both methods rely on the measurement of the task-induced blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response, which was proven to be strongly correlated to the electrical brain activity [134]. Most studies using fMRI-and NIRS-based BCIs focused on their application to neurofeedback [135,136,137], and only a few studies have aimed to develop interfaces for communication [62,138,139], cursor control [140], environmental control [64,141], and external robotic arm control [63,65]. As for EEG, NIRS is also portable and both less expensive and less cumbersome than fMRI.…”