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Hybrid Optical–Electrical Brain Computer Interfaces, Practices and Possibilities

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Towards Practical Brain-Computer Interfaces

Part of the book series: Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering ((BIOMEDICAL))

Abstract

Noninvasive brain computer interfaces (BCI) rely on measurements taken from the scalp in order to directly infer changes in brain activation associated with volitional thought. There is limited scalp over brain regions of interest from which to take such measurements therefore efficient utilisation of the measurement area is important. Hybrid optical–electrical sensors represent one method through which this improvement in measurement area utilization is achievable. In particular, optical measurements of brain activity through techniques such as near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) rely on geometrical arrangements of optodes which do not constrain the placements of electrodes associated with electroencephalography. Consequently a BCI making use of such a hybrid sensor arrangement is capable of extracting more information during brain activation. In addition, the different aspects of brain physiology under measurement lead to a compound signal which more completely characterises the active brain area. This chapter provides an introduction to such hybrid systems with an emphasis on the less well-known optical measurement technology embodied in NIRS systems. Topics covered include the physics of the measurement, description of the physiological dynamics, an overview of sensor technology, signal characteristics, processing and analysis in a BCI context. The chapter concludes with a discussion on current practise in this emerging field with some commentary on future directions and possibilities.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Science Foundation Ireland: Research Frontiers Program 2009, Grant No. 09/RFP/ECE2376.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronic Engineering, National University of Ireland Maynooth, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland

    Tomas E. Ward

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  1. Tomas E. Ward
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Correspondence to Tomas E. Ward .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Baltimore Drive 5700Apt 167, La Mesa, 91942, California, USA

    Brendan Z. Allison

  2. Starlab Neuroscience Research, Teodor Roviralta 45, Barcelona, 08022, Spain

    Stephen Dunne

  3. , School of Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, EPFL STI-CNBI, ELB 141, Station 11, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

    Robert Leeb

  4. , School of Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, EPFL STI-CNBI, ELB 138. Station 11, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

    José Del R. Millán

  5. , Faculty EEMCS, University of Twente, Enschede, 7500, Netherlands

    Anton Nijholt

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Ward, T.E. (2012). Hybrid Optical–Electrical Brain Computer Interfaces, Practices and Possibilities. In: Allison, B., Dunne, S., Leeb, R., Del R. Millán, J., Nijholt, A. (eds) Towards Practical Brain-Computer Interfaces. Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29746-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29746-5_2

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