title: Rapid prototyping of an EEG-based brain-computer interface (BCI).
abstract: The electroencephalogram (EEG) is modified by motor imagery and can be used by patients with severe motor impairments (e.g., late stage of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) to communicate with their environment. Such a direct connection between the brain and the computer is known as an EEG-based brain-computer interface (BCI). This paper describes a new type of BCI system that uses rapid prototyping to enable a fast transition of various types of parameter estimation and classification algorithms to real-time implementation and testing. Rapid prototyping is possible by using Matlab, Simulink, and the Real-Time Workshop. It is shown how to automate real-time experiments and perform the interplay between on-line experiments and offline analysis. The system is able to process multiple EEG channels on-line and operates under Windows 95 in real-time on a standard PC without an additional digital signal processor (DSP) board. The BCI can be controlled over the Internet, LAN or modem. This BCI was tested on 3 subjects whose task it was to imagine either left or right hand movement. A classification accuracy between 70% and 95% could be achieved with two EEG channels after some sessions with feedback using an adaptive autoregressive (AAR) model and linear discriminant analysis (LDA).
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medical Informatics, University of Technology Graz, Austria. guger@dpmi.tu-graz.ac.at
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guger
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schlögl
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Neuper
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Walterspacher
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Strein
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pfurtscheller
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003143:Communication Devices for People with Disabilities; D003199:Computer Systems; D003344:Cortical Synchronization / Q000295:instrumentation; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000295:instrumentation; D006801:Humans; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008297:Male; D009468:Neuromuscular Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors; D014584:User-Computer Interface