Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech

Interface System to Move Objects with the Mind

May 14, 2014 By Mexican Talent Network

Systems able to process thoughts and translate them into a command to move objects are very useful for people who cannot speak or move, but have the disadvantage of causing mental fatigue. However, a Mexican researcher designed an intelligent interface that is capable of learning up to 90 percent of the user’s instructions thus operate autonomously and reduce fatigue.

This project, called “Automating a brain-machine interface system”, is in charge of Christian Isaac Peñaloza Sanchez, a PhD candidate for Cognitive Neuroscience Applied to Robotics at the University of Osaka, Japan.

“I have worked for three years in this project, based on brain-machine interfaces, whose function is to measure the activity of neurons in order to obtain a signal generated by a thought, which is processed and converted into an indication for moving, for example, a robotic prosthesis, a computer pointer or house appliances,” says the scientist, who is part of the Mexican Talent Network, Chapter Japan.

He explains that the system consists of electrodes placed on the scalp of the person, which measure brain activity in form of EEG signals. These are used to detect patterns generated by various thoughts and the mental state of the user (awaken, drowsy or asleep, etc.) and level of concentration.

It also includes a graphical interface that displays the available devices or objects, which interprets EEG signals to assign user commands and control devices.

In addition, there are wireless sensors distributed in the room in charge of sending environmental information (such as temperature or lighting); mobile hardware actuators which receive signals to turn on and off appliances and an artificial intelligence algorithm.

“The latter collects data from wireless sensors, electrodes and user commands to learn a correlation between the environment of the room, the mental state of the person and its common activities” said Christian Peñaloza.

He adds that in order to prevent users to submit to mental fatigue and frustration because of the high levels of concentration during extended periods required to operate the system, a system capable of becoming independent was established.

“We give learning capabilities to the system by implementing intelligent algorithms, which gradually learn user preferences. At one point it can take control of the devices without the person having to concentrate much to achieve this goal,” said Peñaloza Sanchez.

For example, he details, an individual can use it to control an electric chair and move it to the living room using basic commands (forward, backward, left or right), which are learned by the system. Thus, the next time the user wants to take the same action he or she only need to press a button or think about it for the chair to automatically navigate to the desired destination.

Once the system operates automatically, the user no longer has to exert concentration to control devices. However, the system continues to monitor the EEG data to detect a signal called Error -Related Negativity. Which presents when people become aware of an error committed by themselves or by a machine.

For example, when the temperature in the room is warm the user expects the window to open automatically, but if the system makes a mistake and turns on the TV, this action can be detected by the human brain in a spontaneous way without the user making any effort. This allows the command that caused the error to be corrected and the system re-trained.

“We’ve had pretty good results in various experiments with multiple people who have participated as volunteers in our in vivo trials. We found that user mental fatigue decreases significantly and the level of learning by the system increases substantially,” the researcher says.

Related Articles Read More >

DeepWell Digital Therapeutics Mike Wilson Ryan Douglas
How DeepWell is developing video games as tools for treating medical conditions
A woman with a small, handheld device in her lap with tubes that look like earphones plugged into her ears.
Ear-puffing device for migraine treatment wins FDA breakthrough designation
Abbott
Abbott launches upgraded digital health app for neurostimulation
Catheter delivery could enable better brain implants: Synchron’s neuroscience chief explains how

DeviceTalks Weekly.

May 27, 2022
Quick message - No DTW podcast, but plenty else to listen to over this weekend and next week.
See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

Enewsletter Subscriptions

Enewsletter Subscriptions

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech 100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to E-newsletter
  • Attend our Monthly Webinars
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech