Wireless Brain Gate Neural Interface System

.now it goes wireless with a Blue Tooth

To be presented by
B.DIVYA MADHURI divyaboyireddy@gmail.com Dept of ECE P.RAMYA DEEPIKA Ramyadeepu5@gmail.com Dept of ECE

Abstract:
Are you ready to control the world with your mind? Yes you can easily do that with the Brain gate neural interface hardware and software that allows you to control a computer mouse with your brain. With the idea of blue tooth one step closer to controlling the world with our minds. Right now, the Brain gate neural interface is a wired connection running out of a metal nub embedded in the skull. Sensors attached to the neurons in your brain would be implanted as with the original Brain gate technology. Now, however, power, and control would be supplied by a Bluetooth. The mind-to-movement system that allows a quadriplegic man to control a computer using only his thoughts is a scientific milestone. It was reached, in large part, through the brain gate system. This system has become a boon to the paralyzed. The Brain Gate System is based on Cyber kinetics platform technology to sense, transmit, analyze and apply the language of neurons. The principle of operation behind the Brain Gate System is that with intact brain function, brain signals are generated even though they are not sent to the arms, hands and legs. The signals are interpreted and translated into cursor movements, offering the user an alternate Brain Gate pathway to control a computer with thought, just as individuals who have the ability to move their hands use a mouse.

1. Introduction
The brain is "hardwired" with connections, which are made by billions of neurons that make electricity whenever they are stimulated. The electrical patterns are called brain waves. Neurons act like the wires and gates in a computer, gathering and transmitting electrochemical signals over distances as far as several feet. The brain encodes information not by relying on single neurons, but by spreading it across large populations of neurons, and by rapidly adapting to new circumstances. Motor neurons carry signals from the central nervous system to the muscles, skin and glands of the body, while sensory neurons carry signals from those outer parts of the body to the central nervous system. Receptors sense things like chemicals, light, and sound and encode this information into electrochemical signals transmitted by the sensory neurons. And interneurons tie everything together by connecting the various neurons within the brain and spinal cord. The part of the brain that controls motor skills is located at the ear of the frontal lobe. How does this communication happen? Muscles in the body's limbs contain embedded sensors called muscle spindles that measure the length and speed of the muscles as they stretch and contract as you move. Other sensors in the skin respond to stretching and pressure. Even if paralysis or disease damages the part of the brain that processes movement, the brain still makes neural signals. They're just not being sent to the arms, hands and legs.

Key Words: Brain gate chip, Brain computer interface, Computer interaction, system with a Blue Tooth

Figure 1: Principle of the Brain Gate Neural Interface System "The principle of operation of the Brain Gate Neural Interface System is that with intact brain function, neural signals are generated even though they are not sent to the arms, hands and legs. These signals are interpreted by the System and a cursor is shown to the user on a computer screen that provides an alternate "Brain Gate pathway".

2. Description
2.1 A MEDICAL PRODUCT The Brain Gate Neural Interface System is currently the subject of a pilot clinical trial being conducted under an Investigational Device Exemption (LDE) from the FDA. The system is designed to restore functionality for a limited, immobile group of severely motor-impaired individuals. It is expected that people using the Brain Gate System will employ a personal computer as the gateway to a range of self-directed activities. These activities may extend beyond typical computer functions to include the control of objects in the environment such as a telephone, a television and lights The Brain Gate System is based on Cyber kinetics' platform technology to sense, transmit, analyze and apply the language of neurons. The System consists of a sensor that is implanted on the motor cortex of the brain

and a device that inhales brain signals. The principle of operation behind the Brain Gate System is that with intact brain function, brain signals are generated even though they are not sent to the arms, hands and legs. The signals are interpreted and translated into cursor movements, offering the user an alternate "Brain Gate pathway" to control a computer with thought, just as individuals who have the ability to move their hands use a mouse. Cyber kinetics is further developing the Brain Gate System to potentially provide limb movement to people with severe motor disabilities. The goal of this development program would be to allow these individuals to one day use their own arms and hands again. Limb movement developments are currently at the research stage and are not available for use with the existing Brain Gate System. In addition Cyber kinetics is developing products to allow for robotic control, such as a thought-controlled wheelchair.

2.2PLATFORM TECHNOLOGY
Neurons are cells that use a language of electrical impulses to communicate messages from the brain to the rest of the body. At Cyber kinetics, we have the technology to sense, transmit, analyze and apply the language of neurons. We are developing products to restore function, as well as to monitor, detect, and respond to a variety of neurological diseases and disorders Sense Cyber kinetics' unique technology is able to simultaneously sense the electrical activity of many individual neurons. Our sensor consists of a silicon array about the size of a baby aspirin that contains one hundred electrodes, each thinner than a human hair. The array is implanted on the surface of the brain. In the Brain Gate Neural Interface System, the array is implanted in the area of the brain responsible for limb movement. In other

applications the array may be implanted in areas of the brain responsible for other body processes.

Transmit and Analyze The human brain is a super computer with the ability to instantaneously process vast amounts of information. Cyber kinetics' technology allows for an extensive amount of electrical activity data to be transmitted from neurons in the brain to computers for analysis. In the current BrainGate System, a bundle consisting of one hundredgold wires connects the array to a pedestal which extends through the scalp. The pedestal is connected by an external cable to a set of computers in which the data can be stored for off-line analysis or analyzed in real-time. Signal processing software algorithms analyze the electrical activity of neurons and translate it into control signals for use in various computer based applications. Apply Cyber kinetics' ability to generate control signals and develop computer application interfaces provides us with a platform to develop multiple clinical products. For example, using the Brain Gate Neural Interface System, a person may be able to use his thoughts to control cursor motion and/or replicate keystrokes on a computer screen. In another example, a doctor may study patterns of brain electrical activity in patients with epilepsy before, during and after seizures.

Brain Gate Chip

The chip uses 100 hair-thin electrodes that 'hear' neurons firing in specific areas of the brain, for example, the area that controls arm movement. The activity is translated into electrically charged signals and is then sent and decoded using a program, which can move either a robotic arm or a computer cursor. According to the Cyber kinetics' website, three patients have been implanted with the BrainGate system. The company has confirmed that one patient (Matt Nagle) has a spinal cord injury, whilst another has advanced ALS. In addition to real-time analysis of neuron patterns to relay movement, the Brain gate array is also capable of recording electrical data for later analysis. A potential use of this feature would be for a neurologist to study seizure patterns in a patient with epilepsy.

3.BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACE
New research into how signals from the brain can be captured by a computer or other device to carry out an individual's command may allow people with motor disabilities to more full communicate and function in their daily lives. The technique relies on the fact that multiple sensors acting together provide the central nervous system with important feedback for controlling movement. For

example, sensors called muscle spindles that are embedded in muscle fibers measure the length and speed of muscle stretch, while other sensors in the skin respond to stretch and pressure. When an individual is paralyzed by injury or disease, neural signals from these sensors cannot reach the brain, and thus cannot be used to control motor responses. Paralysis also keeps neural signals originating in the motor regions of the brain from reaching the muscles. The work of Weber and his colleagues shows that it is possible to extract feedback information from the body's natural sensors that could then be used to control a prosthetic device, allowing an individual to regain some command and control of his or her own movements. A sterile surgical procedure is used to implant arrays of 36 microelectrodes into the dorsal root ganglion, part of the spinal nerve that contains the nerve cell bodies that house these natural sensors. Historically, it was difficult to record from these sensors because their cell bodies are located in this difficult-to-reach nerve bundle entering the spinal cord. The wires from the microelectrode array are led out through the skin to a small electrical conductor. The procedure allows simultaneous recordings from many sensory nerves during normal motor activities such as walking. A digital camera tracks the position of the leg, and a mathematical analysis relates! The sensory activity to leg movement. The investigators found that fewer than 10 neurons are needed to accurately predict the path of the leg. This finding is encouraging because it suggests that a small number of neurons could provide the feedback signals needed to control a prosthetic device. "The principle of operation of the Brain Gate Neural Interface System is that with intact brain function, neural signals are generated even though they are not sent to the arms, hands and legs. These signals are

interpreted by the System and a cursor is shown to the user on a computer screen that provides an alternate "Brain Gate pathway". The user can use that cursor to control the computer, just as a mouse is used". (From Forbidden Planet 1956) Cyber kinetics has plans to implant the devices in 4 more subjects; the company cautions that Brain Gate is an investigational device for clinical testing only. It is not an approved device. Development:Experiments were performed on dogs who were raised confined in cages. When released, the dogs were excited, constantly ran around, and required several attempts to learn to avoid pain. When pain such as a pinch or contact with a burning match was encountered, the animals could not take action to avoid the stimulus immediately. This finding seemed to demonstrate that pain is understood and avoided only by experience- aversion to it is not inbuilt or automatic, and the organism has no way to know what will cause repeated pain without a repeated experience. Physiology:Afferent pain-receptive nerves, those that bring signals to the brain, comprise at least two kinds of fibers - a fast, relatively thick, myelinated "A8" fiber that carries messages quickly with intense pain, and a small, unmyelinated, slow "C" fiber that carries the longer-term throbbing and chronic pain. Large diameter Afi fibers are nonnociceptive and inhibit the effects of firing by A8 and C fibers. The central nervous system has centers at which pain stimuli can be regulated. Some areas in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord that are involved in receiving pain stimuli from A8 and C fibers, called laminae, also receive input from Ap fibers. In other parts of the laminae, pain fibers also inhibit the effects of nonnociceptive fibers, 'opening thegate'.An inhibitory connection may exist with AP and C fibers, which may form a

synapse on the same projection neuron. The same neurons may also form synapses with an inhibitory interneuron that also synapses on the projection neuron, reducing the chance that the latter will fire and transmit pain stimuli to the brain. The C fiber's synapse would inhibit the inhibitory interneuron, indirectly increasing the projection neuron's chance of firing. The Ap fiber, on the other hand, forms an excitatory connection with the inhibitory interneuron, thus decreasing the projection neuron's chance of firing (like the C fiber, the AP fiber also has an excitatory connection on the projection neuron itself). Thus, depending on the relative rates of firing of C and AP fibers, the firing of the nonnociceptive fiber may inhibit the firing of the projection neuron and the transmission of pain stimuli

3.1 EEG wave groups

The analysis of continuous EEG signals or brain waves is complex, due to the large amount of information received from every electrode. As a science in itself, it has to be completed with its own set of perplexing nomenclature. Different waves, like so many radio stations, are categorized by the frequency of their emanations and, in some cases, by the shape of their waveforms. Although none of these waves is ever emitted alone, the state of consciousness of the individuals may make one frequency range more pronounced than others. Five types are particularly important.

BETA.
The rate of change lies between 13 and 30 Hz, and usually has a low voltage between 5-30 V Beta is the brain wave usually associated with active thinking, active attention, focus on the outside world or solving concrete problems. It can reach frequencies near 50 hertz during intense mental activity.

ALPHA.
The rate of change lies between 8 and 13 Hz, with 30-50 V amplitude Alpha waves have been thought to indicate both a relaxed awareness and also inattention. They are strongest over the occipital (back of the head) cortex and also over frontal cortex. Alpha is the most prominent wave in the whole realm of brain activity and possibly covers a greater range than has been previously thought of. It is frequent to see a peak in the beta range as high as 20 Hz, which has the characteristics of an alpha state rather than a beta, and the setting in which such a response appears also leads to the same conclusion. Alpha alone seems to indicate an empty mind rather than a relaxed one, a mindless state rather than a passive one, and can be reduced or eliminated by opening the eyes, by hearing unfamiliar sounds, or by anxiety or mental concentration.

DELTA. Delta waves lie within the range

of 0.5 to 4 Hz, with variable amplitude. Delta waves are primarily associated with deep sleep, and in the waking state, were thought to indicate physical defects in the brain. It is very easy to confuse artifact signals caused by the large muscles of the neck and jaw with the genuine delta responses. This is because the muscles are near the surface of the skin and produce large signals whereas the signal which is of interest originates deep in the brain and is severely attenuated in passing through the skull. Nevertheless, with an instant analysis EEG, it is easy to see when the response is caused by excessive movement.

Fig showing Delta EEG wave

GAMMA. Gamma waves lie within the

range of 35Hz and up. It is thought that this band reflects the mechanism of consciousness - the binding together of distinct modular brain functions into coherent percepts capable of behaving in a reentrant fashion (feeding back on them over time to create a sense of stream-of- consciousness).

Fig showing Alpha and Beta EEG Waves

THETA.
Theta waves lie within the range of 4 to 7 Hz, with an amplitude usually greater than 20 V. Theta arises from emotional stress, especially frustration or disappointment. Theta has been also associated with access to unconscious material, creative inspiration and deep meditation. The large dominant peak of the theta waves is around 7 Hz.

MU. It is an 8-12 Hz spontaneous EEG

wave associated with motor activities and maximally recorded over motor corte (Fig. 2-8). They diminish with movement or the intention to move. Mu wave is in the same frequency band as in the alpha wave (Fig. 2-7), but this last one is recorded over Occipital cortex. Most attempts to control a computer with

continuous EEG measurements work by monitoring alpha or mu waves, because people can learn to change the amplitude of these two waves by making the appropriate mental effort. A person might accomplish this result, for instance, by recalling some strongly stimulating image or by raising his or her level of attention.

4. Working of Brain gate Neural Interface System:

Signal Acquisition: the EEG signals are

obtained from the brain through invasive or non-invasive methods (for example, electrodes). After, the signal is amplified and sampled. Signal Pre-Processing: once the signals are acquired, it is necessary to clean them. One of the main problems in the automated EEG analysis is the detection of the different kinds of interference waveforms (artifacts) added to the EEG signal during the recording sessions. These interference waveforms, the artifacts, are any recorded electrical potentials not originated in brain. There are four main sources of artifacts emission: 1. EEG equipment. 2. Electrical interference external to the subject and recording system.

3. The leads and the electrodes. 4. The subject her/himself: normal electrical activity from the heart, eye blinking, eyes movement, and muscles in general Signal Classification: once the signals are cleaned, they will be processed and classified to find out which kind of mental task the subject is performing. Oscillatory states are the most remarkable features of EEG activity, because they reflect not only the synchronization of massive numbers of neurons but also a temporally ordered rhythm city of activation. Different oscillatory patterns may be indicative of different information processing states, and it has been proposed that the oscillatory patterns play an active role in these states . According to this view, the rhythmic synchronization during oscillatory states can serve to enhance perception, learning, and the transmission of neuronal signals between different regions of the brain. Traditional spectral analysis tools are not the best options to quantify the different oscillatory activities in the EEG, since the neural processes that generate the EEG are intrinsically dynamic. Indeed, there are transient changes in the power or peak frequency of EEG waves which can provide information of primary interest. The non- stationary nature of the EEG signals makes it necessary to use methods which are able to quantify their spectral content as a function of time. Time frequency representation (TFR) methods are well suited as tools for the study of spontaneous and induced changes in oscillatory states, and we will be used here with this purpose in mind. Computer Interaction: once the signals are classified, they will be used by an appropriate algorithm for the development of a certain application.

The Proposed System with a Blue Tooth:

the 21st century match the strides of the past few decades, direct neural communication between humans and computers may ultimately mature and find widespread use. Perhaps newly purchased computers will one day arrive with biological signal sensors and thought-recognition software built in, just as keyboard and mouse are commonly found on today's units.

7. REFERENCES
5. Conclusion
With this implementation the paralyzed Person will not carry all the Setup box with him for all the time and moreover a normal man can use this device for controlling a ROBOT with his Thought. 1. http://www.cyberkineticsinc.com 2. BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACES FOR COMMUNICATION AND CONTROL, Gerwin Schalk, Dennis J. McFarland, and Jonathan R. Wolpaw, Laboratory of Nervous System Disorders, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health and State University of New York at Albany: http://newton.bme.columbia.edu/wolpaw .html 4. P.R. Kennedy and R.A.E. Bakay, Direct control of a Computer from the human Central nervous system, BrainComputer Interface Technology: Theory and Practice: First International Meeting Program and Papers, The Rensselaerville Institute, Rensselaerville, New York, pp. 6570, June 16-20, 1999. 4. http://www.braingate.com 5...www.wikipedia.com

6. Present and Future.

The practical use of Brain gate neural Interface System technology depends on an interdisciplinary cooperation between neuro scientists, engineers,, Computer programmers, psychologists, and rehabilitation specialists, in order to develop appropriate applications, to identify appropriate users groups, and to pay careful attention to the needs and desires of individual users. The prospects for controlling computers through neural signals are indeed difficult to judge because the field of research is still in its infancy. Much progress has been made in taking advantage of the power of personal computers to perform the operations needed to recognize patterns in biological impulses, but the search for new and more useful signals still continues. If the advances of