Noninvasive Electroencephalography Equipment for Assistive, Adaptive, and Rehabilitative Brain–Computer Interfaces: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Humans interact with computers through various devices. Such interactions may not require any physical movement, thus aiding people with severe motor disabilities in communicating with external devices. The brain–computer interface (BCI) has turned into a field involving new elements for assistive and rehabilitative technologies. This systematic literature review (SLR) aims to help BCI investigator and investors to decide which devices to select or which studies to support based on the current market examination. This examination of noninvasive EEG devices is based on published BCI studies in different research areas. In this SLR, the research area of noninvasive BCIs using electroencephalography (EEG) was analyzed by examining the types of equipment used for assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative BCIs. For this SLR, candidate studies were selected from the IEEE digital library, PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect. The inclusion criteria (IC) were limited to studies focusing on applications and devices of the BCI technology. The data used herein were selected using IC and exclusion criteria to ensure quality assessment. The selected articles were divided into four main research areas: education, engineering, entertainment, and medicine. Overall, 238 papers were selected based on IC. Moreover, 28 companies were identified that developed wired and wireless equipment as means of BCI assistive technology. The findings of this review indicate that the implications of using BCIs for assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative technologies are encouraging for people with severe motor disabilities and healthy people. With an increasing number of healthy people using BCIs, other research areas, such as the motivation of players when participating in games or the security of soldiers when observing certain areas, can be studied and collaborated using the BCI technology. However, such BCI systems must be simple (wearable), convenient (sensor fabrics and self-adjusting abilities), and inexpensive.

Monitoring the Cortical Activity of Children and Adults during Cognitive Task Completion

“…The volunteers never participated in neurophysiological experiments before. There were two groups of participants: 12 children (9 males, 3 females, aged 7-8) and 10 adults (7 males, 3 females, aged [18][19][20]. For 48 h before the experiment, all subjects were asked to maintain a healthy lifestyle with 8 h of sleep, a limited consumption of alcohol and caffeine, and mild physical activity.…”

“…In this context, it is crucial to reveal age-related changes in cognitive processes and their interactions, allowing to calibrate and optimize BCIs for the corresponding age group. Such studies, in particular, are in demand for neuroeducation [ 18 , 19 ].…”

Evaluation of a New Lightweight EEG Technology for Translational Applications of Passive Brain-Computer Interfaces

“…Despite this, the wearable EEG devices available on the market are a step behind other wearable devices. A recent analysis of the current market found 28 companies developing wired and wireless EEG equipment (Jamil et al, 2021 ). However, it has not yet been possible to converge comfort with pleasant appearance, effective recording, and adaptability to different operating contexts.…”

Event-Related Potential-Based Brain–Computer Interface Using the Thai Vowels’ and Numerals’ Auditory Stimulus Pattern

“…Design and implementation techniques are required to build a communication system between the brain and external devices or systems without muscular activities [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. A BCI-based assistive technology for controlling external devices or machines for mobility enhancement and rehabilitation has been proposed previously [ 5 ]. Varying disability levels can pose problems for developing BCI systems.…”

“…Previous research has focused on user efficiency for evaluating the cognition function in their proposed BCI systems. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a popular technique for acquiring brain data for non-invasive BCI systems [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Currently, EEG devices are rapidly being developed for clinical [ 7 , 8 , 9 ] and non-clinical applications, such as entertainment [ 10 , 11 ], transport [ 12 ], and education [ 13 ], such as in an examination and comparison of the EEG-based attention test with continuous performance test (CPT) and test of variables of attention (TOVA) to mention the relationship between a cognitive psychological attention test and the attention levels [ 14 ].…”