title: A Brain-Machine Interface Operating with a Real-Time Spiking Neural Network Control Algorithm.
abstract: Motor prostheses aim to restore function to disabled patients. Despite compelling proof of concept systems, barriers to clinical translation remain. One challenge is to develop a low-power, fully-implantable system that dissipates only minimal power so as not to damage tissue. To this end, we implemented a Kalman-filter based decoder via a spiking neural network (SNN) and tested it in brain-machine interface (BMI) experiments with a rhesus monkey. The Kalman filter was trained to predict the arm's velocity and mapped on to the SNN using the Neural Engineering Framework (NEF). A 2,000-neuron embedded Matlab SNN implementation runs in real-time and its closed-loop performance is quite comparable to that of the standard Kalman filter. The success of this closed-loop decoder holds promise for hardware SNN implementations of statistical signal processing algorithms on neuromorphic chips, which may offer power savings necessary to overcome a major obstacle to the successful clinical translation of neural motor prostheses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, CA 94305.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dethier
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, School of Medicine, Stanford University, CA 94305.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nuyujukian
authors.affiliation: Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience, University of Waterloo, Canada.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Eliasmith
authors.affiliation: Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience, University of Waterloo, Canada.
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, CA 94305.
authors.forename: Shauki A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Elassaad
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Department of Bioengineering, Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University, CA 94305.
authors.forename: Krishna V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Shenoy
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, CA 94305.
authors.forename: Kwabena
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Boahen