{"648906":{"#nid":"648906","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Wearable Brain-Machine Interface Turns Intentions into Actions","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new wearable brain-machine interface (BMI) system could improve the quality of life for people with motor dysfunction or paralysis, even those struggling with locked-in syndrome \u0026ndash; when a person is fully conscious but unable to move or communicate.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA multi-institutional, international team of researchers led by the lab of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/yeo\u0022\u003EWoon-Hong Yeo\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology combined wireless soft scalp electronics and virtual reality in a BMI system that allows the user to imagine an action and wirelessly control a wheelchair or robotic arm.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team, which included researchers from the University of Kent (United Kingdom) and Yonsei University (Republic of Korea), describes the new motor imagery-based BMI system this month in the journal \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/advs.202101129\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAdvanced Science\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The major advantage of this system to the user, compared to what currently exists, is that it is soft and comfortable to wear, and doesn\u0026rsquo;t have any wires,\u0026rdquo; said Yeo, associate professor on the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBMI systems are a rehabilitation technology that analyzes a person\u0026rsquo;s brain signals and translates that neural activity into commands, turning intentions into actions. The most common non-invasive method for acquiring those signals is ElectroEncephaloGraphy, EEG, which typically requires a cumbersome electrode skull cap and a tangled web of wires.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThese devices generally rely heavily on gels and pastes to help maintain skin contact, require extensive set-up times, are generally inconvenient and uncomfortable to use. The devices also often suffer from poor signal acquisition due to material degradation or motion artifacts \u0026ndash; the ancillary \u0026ldquo;noise\u0026rdquo; which may be caused by something like teeth grinding or eye blinking. This noise shows up in brain-data and must be filtered out.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe portable EEG system Yeo designed, integrating imperceptible microneedle electrodes with soft wireless circuits, offers improved signal acquisition. Accurately measuring those brain signals is critical to determining what actions a user wants to perform, so the team integrated a powerful machine learning algorithm and \u0026nbsp;virtual reality component to address that challenge.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new system was tested with four human subjects, but hasn\u0026rsquo;t been studied with disabled individuals yet.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This is just a first demonstration, but we\u0026rsquo;re thrilled with what we have seen,\u0026rdquo; noted Yeo, Director of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chcie.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Human-Centric Interfaces and Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E under the Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology, and a member of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/bio\u0022\u003EPetit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENew Paradigm\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYeo\u0026rsquo;s team originally introduced soft, wearable EEG brain-machine interface in a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/626486\/wearable-brain-machine-interface-could-control-wheelchair-vehicle-or-computer\u0022\u003E2019 study published in the \u003Cem\u003ENature Machine Intelligence\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/a\u003E The lead author of that work, Musa Mahmood, was also the lead author of the team\u0026rsquo;s new research paper.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This new brain-machine interface uses an entirely different paradigm, involving imagined motor actions, such as grasping with either hand, which frees the subject from having to look at too much stimuli,\u0026rdquo; said Mahmood, a Ph. D. student in Yeo\u0026rsquo;s lab.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the 2021 study, users demonstrated accurate control of virtual reality exercises using their thoughts \u0026ndash; their motor imagery. The visual cues enhance the process for both the user and the researchers gathering information.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The virtual prompts have proven to be very helpful,\u0026rdquo; Yeo said. \u0026ldquo;They speed up and improve user engagement and accuracy. And we were able to record continuous, high-quality motor imagery activity.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Mahmood, future work on the system will focus on optimizing electrode placement and more advanced integration of stimulus-based EEG, using what they\u0026rsquo;ve learned from the last two studies.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH R21AG064309), the Center Grant (Human-Centric Interfaces and Engineering) at Georgia Tech, the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2018M3A7B4071109 and NRF-2019R1A2C2086085) and Yonsei-KIST Convergence Research Program. Georgia Tech has a pending patent application related to the work described in this paper.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECitation\u003C\/strong\u003E: Musa Mahmood, et al., \u0026ldquo;Wireless Soft Scalp Electronics and Virtual Reality System for Motor Imagery-based Brain-Machine Interfaces.\u0026rdquo; (\u003Cem\u003EAdvanced Science\u003C\/em\u003E, July 2021)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELinks\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/yeo\u0022\u003EWoon-Hong Yeo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/advs.202101129\u0022\u003E\u0026ldquo;Wireless Soft Scalp Electronics and Virtual Reality System for Motor Imagery-based Brain-Machine Interfaces.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chcie.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Human-Centric Interfaces and Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/bio\u0022\u003EPetit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"New system based on user\u2019s motor-imagery could control wheelchair, robotic arm, or other devices"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew system based on user\u0026rsquo;s motor-imagery could control wheelchair, robotic arm, or other devices\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New system based on user\u2019s motor-imagery could control wheelchair, robotic arm, or other devices"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2021-07-20 13:34:00","changed_gmt":"2021-07-21 17:56:32","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-07-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-07-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"648902":{"id":"648902","type":"image","title":"Woon-Hong Yeo","body":null,"created":"1626785689","gmt_created":"2021-07-20 12:54:49","changed":"1626785689","gmt_changed":"2021-07-20 12:54:49","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246334","name":"18C10200-P27-004.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/18C10200-P27-004.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/18C10200-P27-004.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":557799,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/18C10200-P27-004.jpg?itok=IQ7nAKbp"}},"648903":{"id":"648903","type":"image","title":"Advanced Science cover","body":null,"created":"1626786249","gmt_created":"2021-07-20 13:04:09","changed":"1626786249","gmt_changed":"2021-07-20 13:04:09","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246335","name":"cover image.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cover%20image.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cover%20image.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1413635,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cover%20image.png?itok=Gh7MVgkv"}}},"media_ids":["648902","648903"],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"9791","name":"wearable electronics"},{"id":"107","name":"Nanotechnology"},{"id":"2294","name":"materials science"},{"id":"182422","name":"brain-machine interface"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWriter\/Communications Officer\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["Jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}