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| Speed Cap |
Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Architecture and Software Technology have developed a prototype for a dry EEG cap.
The device currently relies on six distributed contact electrodes that measure brain electroencephalography signals on the scalp (more are possible and can be adjusted for different scalp locations). Before measurements can be undertaken with ordinary EEG devices, they have to be mounted on the patients head in a lengthy, time-consuming process.
Each electrode had to be filled with electrolyte gel to achieve low-resistance contact with the scalp. Setting up such a device takes about 30 minutes. Fraunhofer Scientists now developed an alternative that shortens the process to as little as two minutes. For this purpose, the scientists constructed a flexible helmet with six electrode arrays (multiple pins arranged in electrode sockets) as well as one reference electrode.
The prototype (patents pending) has so far been used mainly for research purposes – especially in the field of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs), in which brain signals are classified and converted into control signals for the computer. Test persons can think about moving their right or left hand and then cause a cursor on a computer screen to be moved, just by using their imagination or by relaxing.
| Applications |
The prototype and BCI system was recently tested on volunteers unfamiliar with BCI in two separate occasions, at the Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) conference in Vancouver in December 2008 and at Fraunhofer FIRST in June 2009 as part of the “Long Night of Science” in Berlin. 16 of the 17 subjects tested reported some level of cursor control ability, and were able to complete a BCI session in under an hour, controlling games such as BreakOut2 and 3D Pinball
| Experiments |
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Interview with Florin Popescu on YouTube
Further experiments on YouTube
| Benchmarks |
The scientists conducted a study with five healthy test persons to compare the performance of a standard 64-electrode EEG with the new dry cap. It was published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE. The prototype was an average of 30% slower than the standard device (9,6 vs 14,9 bits/m), but performed just as well as the standard gel-based cap in terms of of maximum transmission rate (36,5 rsp.35,4 bits/m) and reliability (94, 5 rsp. 98% correctly analysed signals). Newer techniques are described in Proceedings of the World Congress 2009, Munich (Grozea et. al). In the latter, results of clinical-type EEG paradigms based on trial averaging are given for the speed cap (“N100” or scalp response after auditory stimulus, see figure). The combination of affordable, easy to use technology and advanced EEG analysis techniques and machine intelligence developed at Fraunhofer FIRST opens new possibilities for the EEG-Technology, not only for home use, such as BCI and biofeedback, but clinical use as well, in neuroprosthetic and computer aided diagnosis applications.
| Contact |
Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Architecture and Software Technology FIRST
Intelligent Data Analysis – IDA
Florin Popescu Ph.D.
Research Manager
Kekuléstraße 7
12489 Berlin
Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)30 63 92 18 84
Fax: +49 (0)30 63 92 18 05
E-Mail: florin.popescu@first.fraunhofer.de
www.first.fraunhofer.de/en/home
| Further Informationen |
Medical World Congress 2009: Interview and experiment on Science TV
Article PloS ONE
Das Projekt Brain_2_Robot
Picture story“Von der Badekappe zum Cyberhelm”
Projekt information- Speed Cap (englisch)
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