Development and Test of a Headset for BCI Until Obtaining an Efficient and Comfortable System That Can be Used in Daily Practice by ALS People (TECH-ICOPA)

November 25, 2025 updated by: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice

Brain Computer Interface Prototype Development for Assisted Alternative Communication in ALS

"Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are computer-based systems that acquire brain signals, analyze them, and translate them into commands that are relayed to an output device to carry out a desired action. BCIs represent a very active and promising field of research among devices for people with severe motor disabilities. As the currently available systems correspond to research prototypes, they are not adapted to daily live situations. On the other hand, some systems have recently been commercialized, principally for video games but they are not satisfactory for use as a substitute technology in disability.

A BCI's prototype for alternative communication using a virtual keyboard, the P300 Speller, has been developed by the National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (Athena team - Nice University). This prototype includes an EEG-cap with gel based active electrodes. A recent study conducted on 20 patients with ALS (University Hospital, Nice) demonstrated the usability of the system and the patient satisfaction concerning the ease of use and utility. To achieve a system that can be used in daily live in severely disabled patients, technical developments are necessary.

The investigators have conceptualized and developed an ergonomic, comfortable, headset, including dry electrodes to allow a prolonged use of the system.

The purpose of the study conducted all along the development of the headset is to improve the developed system until a successful system is achieved. This study is a monocentric usability study conducted on ALS people.

Study Overview

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

5

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region
      • Nice, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region, France, 06000
        • Chu De Nice

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion criteria

  1. Age ≥ 18 years old
  2. For women of childbearing potential, use of contraception for the duration of the study
  3. Diagnosis of suspected ALS, possible, probable with ENMG, probable, defined according to the criteria of the World Federation of Neurology (revised El Escorial criteria, Airlie House Conference 1998)
  4. Understanding of the objective of the study after describing the principle of the P300 Speller and the course of the study
  5. Ability to follow the study procedure and to comply with the schedule of visits when entering the study
  6. Expression of a P300 wave under the conditions of the study

Exclusion criteria

  1. Psychiatric illness or dementia that may interfere with the patient's ability to follow study procedures
  2. History of photosensitive epilepsy
  3. Patient subject to protective measures
  4. Non-correctable visual disturbances
  5. Limited ability to concentrate.
  6. Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding or who have planned a pregnancy during the course of the study.
  7. Persons deprived of their liberty by a judicial or administrative decision

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: ALS people with severe disability
creation of a new headset prototype for using the P300 Speller, comfortable to use in everyday life by people with disabilities.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
prototype set-up time
Time Frame: at 6 months

The time for setting up the prototype will be defined in seconds by the time elapsed between the start and stop of the stopwatch, the installation sequence being defined as follows:

  • start of the stopwatch: patient seated, equipment positioned on the table
  • patient or caregiver (depending on the patient's motor skills; 1 person): takes the prototype and positions it on the (patient's) skull
  • stopwatch stop: when the prototype is set up ready to operate
at 6 months
Quality of the impedance of each electrode
Time Frame: at 6 months
The quality will be considered satisfactory if the impedance value of each of the electrodes is ≤ 1 000 kOhm, according to literature data.
at 6 months
Number of errors during calibration
Time Frame: at 6 months
The number of errors in copying the 10 letters during the calibration phase will be counted.
at 6 months
Patient/caregiver satisfaction
Time Frame: at 6 months
The evaluation of patient and caregiver satisfaction will be carried out using visual analogue scales (VAS rated from 0 to 10) on their feelings (patient/caregiver) of use.
at 6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

February 13, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 12, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 12, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 22, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 6, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

May 8, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 26, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 25, 2025

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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