Smart Wheelchairs and Brain-computer Interfaces

Mobile Assistive Technologies

Pablo Diez

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9780128128923
• eBook ISBN: 9780128128930
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Biomedical Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Smart Wheelchairs and Brain-Computer Interfaces: Mobile Assistive Technologies combines the fields of neuroscience, rehabilitation and robotics via contributions from experts in their field to help readers develop new mobile assistive technologies. It provides information on robotics, control algorithm design for mobile robotics systems, ultrasonic and laser sensors for measurement and trajectory planning, and is ideal for researchers in BCI. A full view of this new field is presented, giving readers the current research in the field of smart wheelchairs, potential control mechanisms and human interfaces that covers mobility, particularly powered mobility, smart wheelchairs, particularly sensors, control mechanisms, and human interfaces.- Presents the first book that combines BCI and mobile robotics- Focuses on fundamentals and developments in assistive robotic devices which are commanded by alternative ways, such as the brain- Provides an overview of the technologies that are already available to support research and the development of new products

Chapter 1

Introduction

Pablo Diez
Medical Technologies Division, Department of Electronics and Automation, School of Engineering, Universidad Nacional de San Juan, San Juan, Argentina
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina

Abstract

A communication channel between a person and a machine could be defined as human–machine interface (HMI). There are many kinds of HMI but when the communication is established between the brain and a computer, it is known as a brain–computer interface (BCI). The BCI technology has been developed in the last 30 years but further improvements are needed in order to ensure safety and better performances. Nevertheless, a BCI can successfully command a smart-wheelchair. A smart-wheelchair (or robotic-wheelchair) has sensors and the ability to navigate in some environments, such as in-home environments. Then, people with severe disabilities can command a smart-wheelchair directly from his brain. This chapter is an introduction to basic concepts related to BCIs, such as components of a BCI, users, diseases, paradigms, and measures of the performance. These topics are explained in detail in the following chapters of the book.

Keywords

brain–computer interface

diseases

electroencephalography

human–machine interface

P300

wheelchair

Chapter Outline

1. 1.1 Brain–Computer Interfaces
   • 1.1.1 The Brain
   • 1.1.2 Measuring Brain Activity
   • 1.1.3 Components of a BCI
2. 1.2 Pathologies
   • 1.2.1 Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
   • 1.2.2 Stroke
   • 1.2.3 Locked-in Syndrome
3. 1.3 Types of BCI
   • 1.3.1 Self-Regulated Potentials
   • 1.3.2 Event-Related Potentials
   • 1.3.3 Invasive Approach: ECoG-Based BCI
4. 1.4 Measuring BCI Performance
   • 1.4.1 Confusion Matrix
   • 1.4.2 Accuracy and Error Rate
   • 1.4.3 Cohen’s Kappa Coefficient
   • 1.4.4 Information Transfer Rate
5. 1.5 Other Aspects on BCI
   • 1.5.1 Synchronous or Asynchronous Approach
   • 1.5.2 BCI Adaptation or User Adaptation
   • 1.5.3 From Lab to the User’s Home
6. 1.6 Outline of the Book
7. References

To communicate directly with a machine is a common and simple task if you are in a science fiction movie. Thus, you would be able to deliver commands to that machine and even talk with it. In the famous movie, The Matrix, the main character enabled a direct communication from his brain to a computer system. In these science fiction movies, the characters send commands to a machine, which are interpreted and executed as they are really wanted. This raises two questions: the first, how a machine can interpret and evaluate the instructions delivered by a person? And second, how can it execute the instructions in order to achieve the desired results? These two simple questions are very hard to answer and, represent a difficult challenge to overcome by real science.

Nowadays, we are far away from this kind of technology; however, in the last 20 or 30 years advances in many areas had driven the development of new technologies. The human–machine interface (HMI) technology is one of them. In a wide sense, an HMI is a nexus between a p...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Contributors
• Authors’ biographies
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: The motor system
• Chapter 3: Using noninvasive methods to drive brain–computer interface (BCI): the role of electroencephalography and functional near-infrared spectroscopy in BCI
• Chapter 4: Biopotential acquisition for brain–wheelchair interfaces
• Chapter 5: EEG signal processing in brain–computer interface
• Chapter 6: High-speed steady-state visual evoked potential-based brain–computer interfaces
• Chapter 7: P300-based brain-computer interfaces
• Chapter 8: Motor imagery based brain–computer interfaces
• Chapter 9: Electrocorticogram based brain–computer interfaces
• Chapter 10: Hybrid brain–computer interfaces for wheelchair control: a review of existing solutions, their advantages and open challenges
• Chapter 11: Wheelchairs: history, characteristics, and technical specifications
• Chapter 12: Smart-wheelchairs
• Chapter 13: Brain–computer interfaces for controlling wheelchairs
• Chapter 14: Control strategies of a brain-controlled wheelchair using two mental tasks
• Chapter 15: Towards a system to command a robotic wheelchair based on independent SSVEP–BCI
• Chapter 16: EOG-based wheelchair control
• Chapter 17: Voice-directed autonomous navigation of a smart-wheelchair
• Chapter 18: Brain–computer interfaces for neurorehabilitation: enhancing functional electrical stimulation
• Index