Here are a few highlights & notes I forgot to mention from my trip to LA
for CSUN during our call yesterday:
IMPULSE Ablenetinc.com/impulse
I tried it on both my forehead, side of cheek, forearm, and finger. The
calibration on the computer took less than a minute and for most of my
attempts, I was standing in a crowded vendor room. A threshold level is
obtained; once that is activated it acts as a click, holding the
movement/contraction for a longer period of time above the initial
threshold will enable the second click. Both of these threshold
settings may be adjusted. When applied to the body, it is meant to stay
on most of the day. The Impulse comes with a pack of thirty adhesive
pads, which should be applied to a surface following a swipe with an
alcohol wipe. It worked exceptionally well, rather quickly for control
of just two clicks, following a calibration that lasted less than 1
minute, for a generally unimpaired guy (that's me). Reduced price for
evaluation unit for "centers", at $1650, from what I was told, they are
back ordered until June/July, before release to centers.
PROLOQUO2GO www.proloquo2go.com/
Communication application for Iphone or Itouch, with an introductory
price of $149, which will eventually rise to $199. Application affords
an adjustable dynamic display menu, with or without icons, and speech
synthesized speech using either the built-in OS onscreen keyboard or
making an onscreen keyboard with the application. Sound quality was
good, using Acapela voices, though it will require an external speaker
for volume. Itouch has considerably longer battery life, which would
need to be considered. Also, application (itunes app) must be purchased
through Itunes application store.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/speakers/9e68/ review of the x-mini
speaker used during their presentation. The X-mini may be used with a
lanyard, which I felt didn't have a lot of weight to it when I tried it
on.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/a31f/?cpg=ab review of the
stylus that may be used with an Iphone/Itouch
They also note a possible gift certificate program where PALS may
receive the certificate to install these apps onto their own personally
owned Itouch or Iphones, once the certificate is purchased by a
chapter/organization. This may afford us a workaround to support those
who already have an iPhone/iTouch, however the chapter would most likely
lose the license. Possibly available in late April/May
MyTobii www.tobiiATI.com
Previewed both the new C12 eye gaze controlled system and the
Lightwriter SL40.
C12 - MyTobii runs Vista Home Premium. They have a new interface design
for communication, email/text-messaging, and environmental control.
Lightwriter SL40- Brand new design, though no handle or strap. It does
come with a bag (They received many suggestions for an attachable strap
at the conference). Utilizes Acapela voices, continues with built in
environmental control, and now affords text messaging with a GSM card
slot. Sound quality was good, and now affords a picture menu system for
changing settings.
_A
Alex P. Kurth
Assistive Technology Specialist
ALS Association - DC/MD/VA Chapter
Virginia Regional Office:
2807 N. Parham Road, Suite 101, Richmond, VA 23294
804-836-1750, Ext. 103 or (Toll Free) 1-866-348-3257
Fax: 804-836-1751
xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx
www.ALSinfo.org
Chapter Administrative Headquarters:
7507 Standish Place, Rockville, MD 20855
866-348-3257 toll free
The ALS Association's 2009 Public Policy Conference takes place in
Washington, DC May 10-12. Contact Ken Nicholls at xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx
for more information.
-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jane Huggins
Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2009 3:42 PM
To: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [Assistive Technology] BCI Licensed to Private Firm --
Commercial Product on the Horizon?
Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are my research area, so I'm used to
the
terminology.
P300 is the type of brain activity and could therefore theoretically be
picked up using ECoG (implanted electrodes) or EEG (scalp electrodes),
though I can't think of an example where ECoG has been used to record
P300.
ECoG refers to the type of electrodes used for the recording. There are
generally three kinds: electroencephalograph (EEG) from the scalp,
entirely non-invasive; electrocorticogram (ECoG) from electrodes
implanted
inside the skull, but not penetrating the brain, which is sometimes
referred to as minimally invasive; and spikes trains or single cell
recordings from microelectrodes which are implanted into the brain and
penetrate brain tissue. Currently, EEG is widely used by neurologists,
ECoG is also widely used, including for implants of some length and
microelectrodes are being researched, though they are increasingly in
trials with human subjects.
The sentence "The device under development also carries less risk than
BCIs that surgically implant electrodes in the brain" is (I think)
referring to the common thought among ECoG BCI researchers that
implanted
electrodes inside the skull, but not into the brain itself is less risky
than sticking them into the brain tissue. While I can't argue with that
point, I can argue that they aren't very clear about what they are
actually proposing. I find that the result of statements like that is
often to mis-lead the reader.
There are two companies that are commercially developing microelectrodes
and testing them in human subjects. Neurosignals, Inc and
Cyberkinetics. They've each done a half dozen or so implants in humans.
Neurolutions is the first ECoG company I've heard of.
I don't know of a EEG BCI company (which is strange, since it is the
farthest along in my opinion). I also haven't heard of a company
working
on a commercial P300 interface. You can buy the hardware for a P300
BCI,
though the pricetag will likely be $15-20K. The BCI2000 software you
can
likely get for free (if you do enough paperwork), but there isn't much
technical support available. Still, we were able to get it working in
our
lab after about three weeks of fiddling with it. However, it isn't a
commercial product yet and there are lots of usability and support
issues
that remain.
My current research is focused on removing the barriers to commercial
availability of an EEG BCI. However, I don't have the energy to start a
company and I don't know of anyone who is currently focused on
commercialization of a P300 interface. There are practical issues that
need to be solved before a company could be a commercial success. I'm
working on identifying them and finding ways around them so that
commercialization can proceed. One could need to evaluate the amount of
training and technical support needed as well as other functional issues
regarding what the BCI does when you don't feel like typing.
Interfacing
BCIs with commercial assistive technology is one of my projects and we
now
have a prototype connector for the BCI2000 that will allow it to be
recognized as a USB keyboard by just about anything. One part of the
experiment we're working on at the moment is using it to type into a
DynaWrite. Anyway, I can write about this for pages and pages, so I'd
better stop now. You can check out my project's webpage or contact me
off-list if you're interested in more details.
http://www.engin.umich.edu/dbi/
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%%
Jane Huggins, Ph.D. "If, through some inscrutable act of providence, I
were to lose all my faculties save one, I would
choose to retain the gift of speech, for through
it
xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx I would soon regain all the rest."-- Daniel
Webster
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% http://www-personal.umich.edu/~janeh
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
On Thu, 26 Mar 2009, Edward Hitchcock wrote:
> Thanks for reading more closely than I initially did!
>
> Am I correct in thinking that P300 signal is distinct from ECoG that
the
> article is referencing? Then we really are talking about 2 different
> systems in any case.
>
> But the last sentence seems to reference that this system is not
> implanted on the cortex. "The device under development also carries
> less risk than BCIs that surgically implant electrodes in the brain".
>
> Do you know if the P300 is any closer to being commercially available?
> My understanding was that one could purchase a system, but overall, it
> was still pretty raw. I talked with them a little bit about doing
some
> work on it to interface it with better AAC strategies than one
character
> at a time.
>
> Thanks Jane!
>
> Ed Hitchcock OTR/L
> Technology Center
> Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jane Huggins
> Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2009 1:30 PM
> To: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: RE: [Assistive Technology] BCI Licensed to Private Firm --
> Commercial Product on the Horizon?
>
> I'm aware of the P300 interface for typing using BCI2000 that was
> demonstrated at RESNA last year. I'm actually using it in my lab
right
> now. It is very impressive, though its top typing speed is still
> measured
> in characters per minute and usually single digits at that. But, it
> works
> and it is high time someone commercialized it.
>
> However, I don't think from the article that this is what Neurolutions
> is
> working on. It specifically states that their device uses ECoG and
all
> other references to Neurolutions that I can find on the web talk about
> an
> implanted system. While the last sentence of paragraph 4 does
reference
>
> scalp electrodes, it does so as a comparison with the claim that the
> device they're developing requires less training than scalp based
> systems.
> So, I don't think Neurolutions is developing a P300 interface as a
> commercial product. Also, all previous BCI work from Washington
> University in St. Louis has been ECoG work (and good stuff at that).
>
>
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
> %%
> Jane Huggins, Ph.D. "If, through some inscrutable act of providence,
I
> were to lose all my faculties save one, I would
> choose to retain the gift of speech, for
through
> it
> xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx I would soon regain all the rest."-- Daniel
> Webster
> %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% http://www-personal.umich.edu/~janeh
> %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
> On Thu, 26 Mar 2009, Edward Hitchcock wrote:
>
>> Actually, I saw these guys at RESNA last year and was very impressed.
>>
>> This particular system does NOT implant directly on the cortex, it is
>> all external scalp stuff. (The article cites that as well, last
>> sentence of 4th paragraph).
>>
>> The system I saw was not being used to control cursor or isolated
>> movement. I hesitate to try to describe via email, as it is not
> really
>> any kind of scanning either. But it was reliable for slow production
> of
>> text, and they had it connected with WordQ to speed it up a little.
>>
>> Basically it works that when the desired letter is highlighted, (and
>> they are highlighted in an apparently random pattern; it is not
> scanning
>> as we think of it at all) the client responds with an "Ah hah"
> thought.
>> Since the Ah hah thought brainwave always occurs at a reliable time
>> following the presentation of the highlighted letter, the computer
> would
>> know that was the intended letter.
>>
>> The one I saw was not using motor control of any kind (meaning no
> motor
>> cortex) and I am probably doing a very poor job of describing this.
> (I
>> want to say the signal was called P300).
>>
>> Probably only beneficial for very severely locked in folks, past
> eyegaze
>> and any form of switch. I think a reasonable fast switch scanner
> would
>> still be faster than this system as well.
>>
>> But I was positively impressed with it for our folks with no switch
>> access.
>>
>> Ed Hitchcock OTR/L
>> Technology Center
>> Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> [mailto:xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jane Huggins
>> Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2009 12:41 PM
>> To: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: Re: [Assistive Technology] BCI Liscenced to Private Firm --
>> Commerical Product on the Horizon?
>>
>> Interesting. This is the first I've heard of this. But, everyone
>> should
>> note that the proposed BCI is using ECoG as it's input. The article
>> doesn't do a very good job of explaining that ECoG comes from
> electrodes
>>
>> implanted inside the skull but not penetrating the brain (usually the
>> electrodes are placed subdurally, ie under the membranes covering the
>> brain). I worked with ECoG for many years and think that ECoG will
>> provide the best signals for BCIs. However, they require a fairly
> major
>>
>> surgery to implant. So, while this is an exciting step, I wanted to
>> make
>> sure you realize the model of the system they're proposing.
>>
>>
>
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
>> %%
>> Jane Huggins, Ph.D. "If, through some inscrutable act of
providence,
> I
>> were to lose all my faculties save one, I
would
>> choose to retain the gift of speech, for
> through
>> it
>> xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx I would soon regain all the rest."-- Daniel
>> Webster
>> %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% http://www-personal.umich.edu/~janeh
>> %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
>> On Thu, 26 Mar 2009, Antoinette Verdone wrote:
>>
>>> Anyone have any further info on this?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
http://www.health.state.ny.us/press/releases/2009/2009-03-25_brain_comp_
>>> interface_tech_neurolutions.htm
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Antoinette Verdone, MSBME, ATP
>>>
>>> Assistive Technology Specialist
>>>
>>> The ALS Association, Greater New York Chapter
>>>
>>> NEW ADDRESS:
>>>
>>> 42 Broadway, Suite 1724
>>>
>>> New York, NY 10004
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Phone: 212-720-3054
>>>
>>> Fax: 212-619-7409
>>>
>>> Email: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx
>>>
>>> www.als-ny.org
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "One cannot consent to creep when one has the impulse to soar" --
>> Helen
>>> Keller
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> This e-mail, and any attachments, is intended exclusively for the
> individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain legally
> privileged and/or confidential information, including but not limited
to
> protected health information.
>> If the information contains legally privileged or confidential
> information, you have an obligation to comply with all laws and
> regulations regarding its disclosure and safe keeping.
>> If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, you are hereby
> notified that any dissemination, distribution, printing or copying of
> this e-mail, and any attachments, is strictly prohibited.
>> If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender
> immediately and destroy the material in its entirety, whether in
> electronic or hard copy format.
>> If you have a concern related to the receipt or disclosure of such
> information, please do not hesitate to contact RIC's Privacy Officer
at
> 312.238.7066 or xxxxxx@xxxxxxxx
>> Thank you.
>>
>>
>>
>>
> This e-mail, and any attachments, is intended exclusively for the
individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain legally
privileged and/or confidential information, including but not limited to
protected health information.
> If the information contains legally privileged or confidential
information, you have an obligation to comply with all laws and
regulations regarding its disclosure and safe keeping.
> If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, you are hereby
notified that any dissemination, distribution, printing or copying of
this e-mail, and any attachments, is strictly prohibited.
> If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender
immediately and destroy the material in its entirety, whether in
electronic or hard copy format.
> If you have a concern related to the receipt or disclosure of such
information, please do not hesitate to contact RIC's Privacy Officer at
312.238.7066 or xxxxxx@xxxxxxxx
> Thank you.
>
>
>
>
