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Submitted to:Submitted by:

Mr. Rakesh GargAbhinav Passi

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Brain Gate

Asst. Prof. in CSE dept.1407020

SKIETCSE(A1)

CONTENTS

1. Abstract

2. Cyberkinetics

3. What is Brain gate

4. A boon to paralyzed

5. What is BMI?(a). How BMI works(b). Cortical Plasticity

(c). BMI applications(d). BMI drawbacks

6. Competitive advantage

7. Conclusion

8. References

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ABSTRACT

BrainGate was developed by the bio-tech company Cyberkinetics in2003 in conjunction with the Department of Neuroscience at BrownUniversity. The device was designed to help those who have lostcontrol of their limbs, or other bodily functions. The computer chip,which is implanted into the brain, monitors brain activity in the patientand converts the intention of the user into computer commands.Currently the chip uses 100 hair thin electrodes that 'hear' neurons

firing in specific areas of the brain, for example, the area that controlsarm movement. The activities are translated into electrically chargedsignals and are then sent and decoded using a program, thus movingthe arm. According to the Cyberkinetics' website, two patients havebeen implanted with the BrainGate system.

The BrainGate Neural Interface System is currently the subject of apilot clinical trial being conducted under an Investigational DeviceExemption (IDE) from the FDA. The system is designed to restore

functionality for a limited, immobile group of severely motor-impairedindividuals. It is expected that people using the BrainGate System willemploy a personal computer as the gateway to a range of self-directed activities. These activities may extend beyond typicalcomputer functions (e.g., communication) to include the control ofobjects in the environment such as a telephone, a television andlights.

The BrainGate System is based on Cyberkinetics' platformtechnology to sense, transmit, analyze and apply the language of

neurons. The System consists of a sensor that is implanted on themotor cortex of the brain and a device that analyzes brain signals.The principle of operation behind the BrainGate System is that withintact brain function, brain signals are generated even though theyare not sent to the arms, hands and legs. The signals are interpretedand translated into cursor movements, offering the user an alternate

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"BrainGate pathway" to control a computer with thought, just asindividuals who have the ability to move their hands use a mouse.

Cyberkinetics is further developing the BrainGate System topotentially provide limb movement to people with severe motordisabilities. The goal of this development program would be to allowthese individuals to one day use their own arms and hands again.Limb movement developments are currently at the research stageand are not available for use with the existing BrainGate System. Inaddition Cyberkinetics is developing products to allow for roboticcontrol, such as a thought-controlled wheelchair.

In the future, the BrainGate System could be used by thoseindividuals whose injuries are less severe. Next generation products

may be able to provide an individual with the ability to control devicesthat allow breathing, bladder and bowel movements.

The BrainGate Neural Interface System is an investigational device. Itis not approved for sale and is available only through a clinical study.

CYBERKINETICS

The idea of a machine that could read peoples minds has long beena farfetched and intriguing idea for the world of technology. However,

this improbable development may be becoming more and more of areality. Cyberkinetics Inc based in Foxboro, Mass. is developing achip that can be implanted.

The chip has just received FDA approval and has begun its clinicaltrial. It is the hope of Cyberkinetics Inc that the chip will allow patientsto command a computer action by simply thinking about it.

Cyberkinetics Inc is one of the leading corporations in the field of

brain computer interfaces. The company was established in 2001 inan effort to commercialize advances by Brown University scientists inthe field of neurology. The chief executive of the company is TimSurgenor, and he is a leading proponent in the development of directbrain connection technology.

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Cyberkinetics Inc has dubbed its development of this product as theBrainGateSystem. This campaign is hopped to be the breakthroughtechnological advance in the field of computer interfacing. Not onlydoes this system expect to aid individuals with motor impairmentsthrough supporting their use of the computer, but it also hopes tomonitor the treatment of certain diseases, such as epilepsy anddepression.The BrainGateSystem has been under research and development formore than ten years at Brown University. CyberKinetics Inc has justrecently launched a trial of this system in five severely disabledindividuals. However, the system was first tested by Cyberkineticsfounder, John Donoghue, on three rhesus monkeys. The system wassuccessful with this monkey testing. One of the monkeys was able tomove a computer cursor using his brain.

Other Companies

Cyberkinetics Inc. is not the only company that is working on thedevelopment of direct brain connections. Similar efforts have beenmade by an Atlanta based company called Neural Signals as well asthe New York State Department of Health under Dr. JonathanWolpaw.

Neural Signals has conducted its clinical trial and is hoping tomake connections similar to that of Cyberkinetics. Dr. Wolpaws

research focuses on the ability to train the mind and have it adapt tonew patterns of cause and effect. Although great strides have beenmade in both of these efforts, it is believed that Cyberkinetics Inc willbe the first to conduct a long term trial with more sophisticateddevices.

WHAT IS BRAINGATE

The Braingate program aims at developing a fast, reliable andinconspicuous connection between the brain of a severely disabledperson and a personal computer.

The BrainGate Neural Interface Device is a proprietary braincomputer interface that uses an internal sensor to detect brain activity

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and external processors that convert these brain signals into acomputer-mediated output under the persons own control. TheBrainGate System is a hardware device that uses software. Thesensor consists of a tiny chip, smaller than a baby asprin, whichcontains one hundred electrode sensors that each tap into a separateneuron. BrainGate senses, analyses, and transmits the data from thebrain to an outside system. This allows the user to interact with theoutside world in a more independent way. The ultimate goal of theBrainGate System development program is to create a safe, effectiveand unobtrusive universal operating system that will enable thosewith motor impairments to control a wide range of devices, includingcomputers, assistive technologies and medical devices, by simplyusing their thoughts.

BrainGate contains a chip that is implanted on the surface of themotor cortex area of the brain. In the pilot version of the device, acable connects the sensor to an external signal processor in a cartthat contains three computers. The computers translate hard-todetect brain signals to create the communication output using customdecoding software. When the patient is connected to the system heor she can mentally move the cursor just like a mouse would do. JohnDonoghue, the chair of the Department of Neuroscience at BrownUniversity, led the original project research and went on to co-foundCyberkinetics, where he is currently chief scientific officer overseeingthe clinical trial. . The development of the BrainGate program is theculmination of 10 years of research in the academic laboratory atBrown University. Hugh Herr, another scientist, also helped in thedevelopment of a neural interface system. Herr became verypassionate about the development of a technology that would giveindependence and movement back to people that were physicallyimpaired. Herr lost both legs at a young age from frostbite. He thenstarted research on combining both body and machine, his researchhas already made a significant impact for people that are physically

challenged. He has helped in the development of many prosthetics.

The development of the BrainGate System brain-computer interfaceis to enable those with severe paralysis and other neurologicalconditions to live more productively and independently. Also,scientists are developing the BrainGate Systems underlying coretechnology in the NeuroPort System to enable improved diagnosis

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and treatment for a number of neurological conditions, such asepilepsy and brain trauma. The NeuroPort System is a neural monitordesigned for acute inpatient applications and labeled for temporaryrecording and monitoring of brain electrical activity. BrainGate willbe the first human device that has been designed to record, filter, andamplify multiple channels of simultaneously recorded neural activityat a very high spatial and temporal resolution. It has been thoroughlyresearched and will contribute to the diagnosis and treatment ofneurological conditions in patients who have undergone acraniotomy. This will give neurologists and neurosurgeons a newresource to detect, transmit and analyze neural activity.

Dr. Steve Williams, a clinical advisor to Cyberkinetics, presented adescription of the BrainGate Controller, a next generation,

standardized interface system that is under development. Thedevelopment of this system would replace the initial prototypecontroller which has been used in the BrainGate trial until now. TheM*Power Controller is designed to allow a BrainGate System patientto control a standard wireless computer device. The new interface isalso intended to be easier to use for patients and their families, sothey can access the capabilities of the system on a routine basiswithout reliance on a technician. These two closely linked efforts areintended to yield a BrainGate System allowing patients significantcontrol over their environment, the ability to readily perform numerousdaily activities that are currently beyond their reach, and vastlyenhance communications opportunities. For example, use of theM*Controller as an interface control, by thought alone would allowpatients to perform a range of tasks including: making and receivingtelephone calls, controlling remote devices, accessing the internet,and communicating via e-mail.

The BrainGate system includes hardware and software and may beused as a telecommunication device in the future. This could greatly

impact a business or organization. It will give people with disabilitiesa chance to work at a business just like anyone else. With thistechnology they will be able use a wide variety of devices and mayalso lead to a decline in the use of hands on activities. With thedevelopment of devices such as these, one day everyone may havechips in their brain that will allow them to perform tasks without theuse of their body. Researchers arent promising any miracles or that

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quadriplegics will walk again but they are trying to make the daily lifeof the physically challenged easier by giving them the ability to fulfillactivities of daily life.

We have presented to you an overview of the technology known asthe Brain Gate System. Above, we have described the technology,discussed how it could impact a business or organization, and howthe developers are planning to take this technology to the next level.Here is a recap of the main points. Brain Gate is a neural interfacesystem device that has a chip that reads brain activity through theuse of sensors and then transmits the activities to three computerswhich convert the thoughts into actions. This system is used forpeople that are physically impaired; it helps give them theindependence and the capabilities of the norm. The scientists working

on Brain Gate hope to create an operating system that is safe,effective and unobtrusive. The neurologists are constantly trying tocome up with more ideas to push this form of emerging technologyfurther. They hope to better the lives of individuals who are bothfortunate and unfortunate, and that is what technology is all about.

Brain Gate Clinical Trials

Partnering with leading rehabilitation centers in Boston, Chicago andProvidence, Cyber kinetics is currently recruiting patients to enroll in apilot clinical trial of the Brain Gate Neural Interface System.

The Brain Gate System is designed to provide a means for peoplewith severe motor impairment a new method to communicate with acomputer directly with their thoughts. As an investigational device, theBrain Gate System is only offered through the clinical trial and is notcommercially available.

A BOON TO THE PARALYZED

It will now be possible for a patient with spinal cord injury to producebrain signals that relay the intention of moving the paralyzed limbs, assignals to an implanted sensor, which is then output as electronicimpulses. These impulses enable the user to operate mechanicaldevices with the help of a computer cursor.

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shapes and play simple video games. He also was able to open andclose a prosthetic hand and use a robotic limb to grasp and moveobjects.

"This system is giving us, for the first time, the ability to look at andlisten to firing patterns of ensembles of individual neurons in thehuman brain for extended periods of time. We hope the knowledgegained from this work will allow the development of systems thatprovide improved communication and environmental control forpeople with paralysis and someday, when combined withneuromuscular stimulators, restore control over their limbs," saysHochberg, an instructor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School and

an investigator in neuroscience at Brown. He and his co-authors alsonote that the system requires significant improvement in reliability andcontrol and that further research is needed before it will be usefuloutside a research setting.

BRAIN-MACHINE INTERFACE

A brain machine interface (BMI), sometimes called a direct neuralinterface or a brain-machine interface, is a direct communicationpathway between a human or animal brain (or brain cell culture) and

an external device. In one-way BMIs, computers either acceptcommands from the brain or send signals to it (for example, to restorevision) but not both.[1] Two-way BMIs would allow brains andexternal devices to exchange information in both directions but haveyet to be successfully implanted in animals or humans.

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Figure. Monkey BMI control setup

Research on BMIs began in the 1970s, but it wasn't until the mid-1990s that the first working experimental implants in humansappeared. Following years of animal experimentation, early workingimplants in humans now exist, designed to restore damaged hearing,sight and movement. The common thread throughout the research isthe remarkable cortical plasticity of the brain, which often adapts toBMIs, treating prostheses controlled by implants as natural limbs.With recent advances in technology and knowledge, pioneering

researchers could now conceivably attempt to produce BMIs thataugment human functions rather than simply restoring them,previously only the realm ofscience fiction.

How Brain-machine Interfaces Work

As the power of modern computers grows alongside ourunderstanding of the human brain, we move ever closer to makingsome pretty spectacular science fiction into reality. Imagine

transmitting signals directly to someone's brain that would allow themto see, hearor feel specific sensory inputs. Consider the potential tomanipulate computers or machinery with nothing more than athought. It isn't about convenience for severely disabled people,development of a brain machine interface (BMI) could be the mostimportant technological breakthrough in decades. In this article, we'll

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learn all about how BMIs work, their limitations and where they couldbe headed in the future.

The Electric Brain

The reason a BCI works at all is because of the way our brainsfunction. Our brains are filled with neurons, individual nerve cellsconnected to one another by dendrites and axons. Every time wethink, move, feel or remember something, our neurons are at work.

That work is carried out by small electric signals that zip from neuronto neuron as fast as 250 mph. The signals are generated bydifferences in electric potential carried by ions on the membrane ofeach neuron.

Although the paths the signals take are insulated by something calledmyelin, some of the electric signal escapes. Scientists can detect

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those signals, interpret what they mean and use them to direct adevice of some kind. It can also work the other way around. Forexample, researchers could figure out what signals are sent to thebrain by the optic nerve when someone sees the color red. Theycould rig a camera that would send those exact signals intosomeone's brain whenever the camera saw red, allowing a blindperson to "see" without eyes.

Cortical Plasticity

For years, the brain of an adult human was viewed as a static organ.When you are a growing, learning child, your brain shapes itself and

adapts to new experiences, but eventually it settles into anunchanging state -- or so went the prevailing theory.

Beginning in the 1990s, research showed that the brain actuallyremains flexible even into old age. This concept, known as corticalplasticity, means that the brain is able to adapt in amazing ways tonew circumstances. Learning something new or partaking in novelactivities forms new connections between neurons and reduces the

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onset of age-related neurological problems. If an adult suffers a braininjury, other parts of the brain are able to take over the functions ofthe damaged portion.

Why is this important for BMIs? It means that an adult can learn to

operate with a BMI, their brain forming new connections and adaptingto this new use of neurons. In situations where implants are used, itmeans that the brain can accommodate this seemingly foreignintrusion and develop new connections that will treat the implant as apart of the natural brain.

BMI Applications

One of the most exciting areas of BMI research is the development of

devices that can be controlled by thoughts. Some of the applicationsof this technology may seem frivolous, such as the ability to control avideo game by thought. If you think a remote control is convenient,imagine changing channels with your mind.

However, there's a bigger picture -- devices that would allow severelydisabled people to function independently. For a quadriplegic,something as basic as controlling a computer cursor via mentalcommands would represent a revolutionary improvement in quality oflife. But how do we turn those tiny voltage measurements into the

movement of a robotic arm?

Early research used monkeys with implanted electrodes. Themonkeys used a joystick to control a robotic arm. Scientistsmeasured the signals coming from the electrodes. Eventually, theychanged the controls so that the robotic arm was being controlledonly by the signals coming form the electrodes, not the joystick.

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A more difficult task is interpreting the brain signals for movement insomeone who can't physically move their own arm. With a task likethat, the subject must "train" to use the device. With an EEG orimplant in place, the subject would visualize closing his or her righthand. After many trials, the software can learn the signals associatedwith the thought of hand-closing. Software connected to a robotichand is programmed to receive the "close hand" signal and interpret itto mean that the robotic hand should close. At that point, when thesubject thinks about closing the hand, the signals are sent and therobotic hand closes.

A similar method is used to manipulate a computer cursor, with thesubject thinking about forward, left, right and back movements of the

cursor. With enough practice, users can gain enough control over acursor to draw a circle, access computer programs and control a TV[source: Ars Technica]. It could theoretically be expanded to allowusers to "type" with their thoughts.

Once the basic mechanism of converting thoughts to computerized orrobotic action is perfected, the potential uses for the technology are

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almost limitless. Instead of a robotic hand, disabled users could haverobotic braces attached to their own limbs, allowing them to moveand directly interact with the environment. This could even beaccomplished without the "robotic" part of the device. Signals couldbe sent to the appropriate motor control nerves in the hands,bypassing a damaged section of the spinal cord and allowing actualmovement of the subject's own hands.

BMI Drawbacks

Although we already understand the basic principles behind BMIs,they don't work perfectly. There are several reasons for this.

1. The brain is incredibly complex. To say that all thoughts oractions are the result of simple electric signals in the brain is agross understatement. There are about 100 billion neurons in ahuman brain. Each neuron is constantly sending and receivingsignals through a complex web of connections. There are chemicalprocesses involved as well, which EEGs can't pick up on.2. The signal is weak and prone to interference. EEGs measuretiny voltage potentials. Something as simple as the blinking eyelidsof the subject can generate much stronger signals. Refinements inEEGs and implants will probably overcome this problem to some

extent in the future, but for now, reading brain signals is likelistening to a bad phone connection. There's lots of static.3. The equipment is less than portable. It's far better than itused to be -- early systems were hardwired to massive mainframecomputers. But some BMIs still require a wired connection to theequipment, and those that are wireless require the subject to carrya computer that can weigh around 10 pounds. Like all technology,this will surely become lighter and more wireless in the future.

Competitive Advantage:

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The Brain Gate Neural Interface System is being designed to one dayallow the user to interface with a computer and/or other devices at alevel of speed, accuracy and precision that is comparable to, or evenfaster than, what is possible with the hands of a non-disabled person.The Brain Gate System may offer substantial improvement overexisting assistive technologies.

Currently available assistive devices have significant limitations forboth the person in need and the caregiver. For example, even simpleswitches must be adjusted frequently, a process that can be timeconsuming. In addition, these devices are often obtrusive and mayprevent the user from being able to simultaneously use the deviceand at the same time establish eye contact or carry on conversationswith others.

Potential advantages of the Brain Gate System over other muscledriven or brain-based computer interface approaches include: itspotential to interface with a computer without weeks or months oftraining; its potential to be used in an interactive environment, wherethe user's ability to operate the device is not affected by their speech,eye movements or ambient noise; and the ability to providesignificantly more usefulness and utility than other approaches byconnecting directly to the part of the brain that controls handmovement and gestures.

Conclusion

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Brain gate technology has proven to be a solution not only for thequadriplegics but it goes far beyond that . It is an early step towardslearning to read signals from an array of neurons and use computersand algorithms to translate the signals into action. That could lead toartificial limbs that work like the real ones.It has been proved thatpeople can actually use this system to switch a television on and off,to control the volume and to manipulate a prosthetic hand.

All of these developing technologies are fascinating and are sure tohelp millions of people, but what happens when these technologiesare perfected, and prosthesis become viable replacements ratherthan just substitutes? What happens when this technology becomesavailable to people who dont need it. Imagine athletes upgrading toprosthetic legs so they can run faster, jump higher? The option to

change out body parts for artificial ones would certainly raise somered flags, especially in religious groups.

REFERENCES

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1. www.ieeexplore.ieee.org

2. www.google.co.in

3. www.ask.com

4. www.wikipedia.com

5. www.howstuffworks.com

6. www.cyberkineticsinc.com