Brain Computer Interface Control of a Robotic Device

Noninvasive Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) have been used to control a number of virtual and physical objects through the voluntary modulation of brain rhythms. Current issues with noninvasive BCIs include exhausting motor imagery tasks and long training times required to achieve competent control. The investigators will address these issues within this protocol, examining new approaches to reduce the effort required by subjects to control a physical object in the task.

The PI's hypothesis is: Control of a physical robotic device will increase the performance of subjects in BCI tasks that are analogous to virtual tasks due to greater engagement with a physical output.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Healthy

Detailed Description

Subjects will be recruited to participate in controlling a physical robotic device such as a quadcopter or a robotic arm using imagination of movement or other activities as detected by brain waves that can be used to control a robotic device.

The subjects will be able to observe the controlling of a robotics device using one's thought and participate in multiple sessions to learn the skills to better control such a device.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 23

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Minnesota
    • Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55455
      • Nils Hasselmo Hall at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities campus

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 64 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Healthy subjects, primarily from individuals on the University of Minnesota Campus and Minneapolis area

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Subjects for this study will be healthy, English speaking adult volunteers (18-64 years old).

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of neurological deficit or traumatic brain injury.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Healthy Subjects; Noninvasive Brain Computer Interface Control

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Percent of trials correct within each session of Brain Computer Interface experiments.	Accuracy and performance metrics of Brain-Computer Interface tasks over time. This will include the percent of trials correct, percent of trials completed, and time to completion within each session. Combining these metrics, we will examine subject learning over sessions with regression. Exact time frame of sessions will be determined by subject and equipment availability.	Session 1 through 10, within an average of 5 weeks. Each session separated by at least 24 hours.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Minnesota
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Bin He, PhD, University of Minnesota

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: March 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 13, 2016
• Study Completion (Actual): March 13, 2016

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 18, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 21, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): February 24, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 18, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 16, 2018
• Last Verified: January 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Subjects
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1312M46742

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED