Brain Signal Operated Technologies

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Brain Signal Operated Technologies

Brain Signal Controlled Device

January 2007

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Presentation Outline

Project Background Our Product

System Overview High Level Design

Business Case Group Dynamics Conclusion Q&A

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Roles In Project

Heng Wei Lester Lan (COO, CTO) Victor Yu (CEO, CFO) Missing Member 1 Missing Member 2 Missing Member 3 Missing Member 4

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Project Motivation

Neurological diseases Degeneration of nerve cells in brain and spinal cord

Cognitive abilities remain intact 3000 Canadians diagnosed with ALS today 2 to 3 die each day

Offer an alternative way of living for the disabled

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Projection Motivation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Stephen_Hawking_050506.jpg

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Project Motivation

Conventional Brain-Computer Interface with passive electrodes Sticky gel makes hair messy Long set-up time

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Electroencephalography

Place electrodes on scalp Electrodes detect brain signals

Signals are processed by hardware and software

Alter signals by moving muscles, blinking eyes, sleeping, etc

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System Overview

Modular EEG Easy to set-up 2 channels

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Head Gear

Face shield as head gear Gold pin array as electrode Ear clip as reference electrode

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Pin Electrodes

2X5 gold pin arrays Contact scalp directly Pressure but no/little pain

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Pre-Amplification

Extract brain signals via electrodes

Instrumentation amplifier increases signal strength

Op-amp prevents other body currents from entering instrumentation amplifier

Send to amp stage through a cable and D-sub connectors

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Amplification and Filtering

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Amplification and Filtering

2 second-order low pass filters Amplifier with fixed gain of 100 Amplifier with variable gain of 1-150

AC coupled high pass filter Powered by batteries

Standard DC power supply works too

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PCI Interface

PCI 6024E DAQ 2 outputs from amp stage connect to 2 analog channels in DAQ

Ground signal from amp stage connect to analog input ground in DAQ

Hardware DAQ Software

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Software Implementation

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Software Implementation

Brain signals displayed and analyzed in LabVIEW DAQ assistant in LabVIEW helped reading signals Sampled at 1000Hz Further filtered with a 45Hz LPF and a 60Hz notch filter Filtered signals way cleaner than raw inputs

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Problems Encountered

Electrode placements No prior biomedical knowledge

Low voltage signal Interfered by noise

Hard to control brainwaves Cannot turn on op-amps

AD625 -> INA128 LabVIEW sampling rate

Long delay time if requesting too many samples

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Results

Raw Brainwaves Filtered Brainwaves

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Results

Desired EEG Our EEG

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Eeg_raw.svg

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Results – Sleepy but Awake

Alpha Low Beta

High Beta Gamma

Delta Theta

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Marketing Plan

Targeting markets Researchers Hospitals People with disabilities

Provide on-site training Start in North America and expand worldwide

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Budget

Component CostHead Gear $20.00Electrodes $14.82Power Supply $9.01Interface Box $9.14Electronics $62.90Connections $15.14Tools $13.45LabVIEW and DAQ (~$1,500) BorrowedMiscellaneous $23.25

Total $167.71

Total Project Expense: $360.28

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Selling Price

Possible unit manufacturing cost of <$50

Unit selling price of ~$100 Much lower than that of commercial complex EEG systems

Raise price as more features are being added

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Potential Competitors

Many commercial EEG systems exist Futherhealth.org

EEG system with 500 displays Costs $3,450

WaveRider Pro Biofeedback system with 4 channels reading from brain, heart, and muscles Costs $1,700

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Group Dynamics

Formed in summer 2006 Started with 6, ended up with 2

Group communications Caucus -> Email -> Phones

Group meetings 3 times a week Late or no show

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Group Dynamics

Group Members Leaving Simply disappear No pre-requisite Afraid of too much work Family problems/Co-op

Individual Tasks Not done Lied to others by saying tasks were done

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What We Learned

Technical Skills Biological structure of the brain Hardware assembly

Soft Skills Team work

Expect the unexpected Contingency Plans

Working in groups of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6

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Future Work

PONG game! More signal analysis in LabVIEW Store different brainwaves for different thoughts Two players competing against each other

Brain-controlled toys

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Conclusion

Acquired various technical and communication skills

(Kind of) overcame the collapse of the group

Product may one day help the disabled

Fun, educational, and frustrating…

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Acknowledgements

Brad Oldham Troy Tyler Andrew and Steve’s extension Ex-group members Anyone who saw our group’s disaster and offered help

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Questions?