Walking from thought

Brain Res. 2006 Jan 5;

Authors: Pfurtscheller G, Leeb R, Keinrath C, Friedman D, Neuper C, Guger C, Slater M

Online analysis and classification of single electroencephalogram (EEG) trials during motor imagery were used for navigation in the virtual environment (VE). The EEG was recorded bipolarly with electrode placement over the hand and foot representation areas. The aim of the study was to demonstrate for the first time that it is possible to move through a virtual street without muscular activity when the participant only imagines feet movements. This is achieved by exploiting a brain-computer interface (BCI) which transforms thought-modulated EEG signals into an output signal that controls events within the VE. The experiments were carried out in an immersive projection environment, commonly referred to as a "Cave" (Cruz-Neira, C., Sandin, D.J., DeFanti, T.A., Surround-screen projection-based virtual reality: the design and implementation of the CAVE. Proceedings of the 20th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques, ACM Press, 1993, pp. 135-142) where participants were able to move through a virtual street by foot imagery only. Prior to the final experiments in the Cave, the participants underwent an extensive BCI training.

Via Medgadget 

A Switzerland based company has announced that its new Learning Retinal Implant System was successfully implanted in two patients in December 2005. According to the company press release (.pdf), the system, containing a 50-electrode device,  is by far the most complex retinal implant tested in humans.

The System comprises three main components:

2. wears a pair of spectacles containing an integrated mini-camera and transmitter components for wireless signal and energy transmission ("The Visual Interface"). Via a cable, the spectacles are connected to:

3. "The Pocket Processor" worn at the patient's waist. This device replaces the information processing function of the formally healthy retina.

The use of a high-speed digital signal processor allows the provision of "intelligent information" to the implant (and the nerve cells) by using tuneable software to approximate the information processing normally carried out by the healthy retina. The entire process enables patients to optimize their visual perception during the learning phase. Indeed, using the patient's feedback on perception as an input for the tuning of The Pocket Processor is the unique, patent-protected feature of the System and constitutes the 'learning' capability of the Learning Retinal Implant System.

From the  website

CBMS 2006 will be hosted by Brigham Young University and held at the Red Lion Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah. CBMS 2006 is co-sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society (Technical Committee on Computational Medicine, TCCM) and the College of Engineering at Texas Tech University.

CBMS 2006, the 19th IEEE International Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems, provides an opportunity for discussion on many topics related to computer-based medical systems. Here you can find more of the who, what, when, where and how of the symposium.

CBMS 2006 will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah.