Skip to main content

New brainwave-reading technique may unlock ‘locked-in’ patients

Complete Locked-in and Locked-in Patients: Assessment and Communication
There are few more horrifying propositions than the idea of being trapped in your own body, with your mind fully active but unable to move, speak, or physically communicate in any way. Called “locked-in syndrome,” this condition has no cure, no standard treatment, and few patients ever see the return of any significant motor function. If technology could help these patients, it would genuinely be one of the best — and most transformative — use cases we can think of.

Fortunately, an Austrian company is stepping up to the challenge, with the creation of an innovative brain-computer interface system called MindBeagle. The technology allows locked-in patients to communicate answers to “yes” or “no” questions using nothing more than their thoughts.

“The MindBeagle system uses brain waves from patients as an input signal,” Christoph Guger, CEO of g.tec, the company behind the technology, told Digital Trends.

Guger explained that this brain activity is detected using electroencephalography (EEG) technology, in which electrodes are attached to the scalp of a subject. Machine-learning algorithms then analyze these brain waves to work out “yes” and “no” patterns, based on a test the subjects are given. This involves a hand-vibration motor, which is worn on the patient’s hands. By responding to whether a vibration takes place on their left or right, users can establish separate measures for affirmative or negative answers.

Using the system, patients with locked-in syndrome are able to communicate with around 80 percent accuracy.

In addition to people with locked-in syndrome, the technology can also be used to help people in other unresponsive states, so long as there is cognitive activity.

“Imagine that somebody had a car accident and you want to see if he or she understands you,” Guger continued. “In that situation, you can use MindBeagle for testing. Recently the ALS Clinic in Palermo, Italy, had a patient who had gone for several months without showing any response. Using MindBeagle, the patient answered most of the questions they were asked correctly. The family was very happy to have a proof that their mother is still following all their conversations. The test results also make a difference for the doctors because they can optimize medication or therapy.”

While researchers one day hope to achieve a cure for conditions such as locked-in syndrome, cutting-edge technology like this is helping in ways that would have been impossible just a few years ago.

Luke Dormehl
Former Digital Trends Contributor
I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…
Facebook study shows how social media may influence our vacation behavior
Tax season travel splurge: Vacationing at Gili Lankanfushi Maldives

Facebook scientists want to know more about what vacation snaps could reveal about travel behavior and the world’s most popular locations -- and they’ve trained an A.I. trained on some 58,000 geo-tagged photos to help do so.

The concept is an interesting one. Tourist destinations frequently become popular because they are shared in the form of online images. That, in turn, can have a big effect on influencing where people travel (in a time when such a thing is possible) and even the kinds of photos they take once they are there. To explore this phenomenon, Facebook A.I. researchers used artificial intelligence algorithms to analyze a massive archive of Flickr images, taken between 2004 and 2019, to uncover some of these details and unique insights.

Read more
Wild new ‘brainsourcing’ technique trains A.I. directly with human brainwaves
brainsourcing university of helsinki study a mannequin is fitted with prototype o

Picture a room full of desks, numbering more than two dozen in total. At each identical desk, there is a computer with a person sitting in front of it playing a simple identification game. The game asks the user to complete an assortment of basic recognition tasks, such as choosing which photo out of a series that shows someone smiling or depicts a person with dark hair or wearing glasses. The player must make their decision before moving onto the next picture.

Only they don’t do it by clicking with their mouse or tapping a touchscreen. Instead, they select the right answer simply by thinking it.

Read more
Google’s new smart textile tech lets you control music by pinching a cord
google home smart speaker deal walmart

Google has been actively exploring ways to expand virtual interactions beyond touchscreens and voice assistants. After pioneering touch-sensitive denim jackets and hands-free radar phone controls, Google’s research division is now experimenting with weaving technology into fabrics.

Called "E-Textiles," the concept takes advantage of textile braiding techniques to enable cords to sense gestures. This could potentially allow people to, for instance, control their music by pinching the wire of their headphones or skipping the track by twisting their hoodie’s strings. Google says the research, for now, exclusively focuses on "drawstrings in garments and as wired connections for data and power across consumer devices," since they’re commonly used.

Read more