This is so cool, instead of just working on letters I bet they could mimic ASL and do words/phrases.
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822%2812%2900575-1
- Highlights
- fMRI-based spelling device for potential communication with locked-in patients
- Each letter of the alphabet can be hemodynamically encoded by a single mental process
- Evoked single-trial fMRI responses can be decoded in real time with high accuracy
- Requires almost zero pretraining; methods can be readily used at standard MRI sites
Summary
Human
communication entirely depends on the functional integrity of the
neuromuscular system. This is devastatingly illustrated in clinical
conditions such as the so-called locked-in syndrome (LIS) [
1],
in which severely motor-disabled patients become incapable to
communicate naturally—while being fully conscious and awake. For the
last 20 years, research on motor-independent communication has focused
on developing brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) implementing
neuroelectric signals for communication (e.g., [
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7]), and BCIs based on electroencephalography (EEG) have already been applied successfully to concerned patients [
8,
9,
10,
11]. However, not all patients achieve proficiency in EEG-based BCI control [
12]. Thus, more recently, hemodynamic brain signals have also been explored for BCI purposes [
13,
14,
15,
16].
Here, we introduce the first spelling device based on fMRI. By
exploiting spatiotemporal characteristics of hemodynamic responses,
evoked by performing differently timed mental imagery tasks, our novel
letter encoding technique allows translating any freely chosen answer
(letter-by-letter) into reliable and differentiable single-trial fMRI
signals. Most importantly, automated letter decoding in real time
enables back-and-forth communication within a single scanning session.
Because the suggested spelling device requires only little effort and
pretraining, it is immediately operational and possesses high potential
for clinical applications, both in terms of diagnostics and establishing
short-term communication with nonresponsive and severely motor-impaired
patients.
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