An Amazing Story- Star Wars-The Force Trainer

[Guest guest]

Hi

I wanted to share an amazing story. I've been working with a 18 year-old

man who has global brain damage from congestive heart

failure.

He is unable to speak or move. He only has eye blink and some

facial movement. He can smile. We've been doing

neurofeedback for the past year and he shows amazing brainwaves, despite

his physical limitations. He's symptoms are similar to

" locked in syndrome, yet he is able to do some movement and was NOT

diagnosed with this syndrome, only global brain damage.

Even though he is able to change the feedback or number on the screen on

command, it wasn't as obvious until tonight when I brought in the toy

that is called Star Wars- The Force Trainer. This toy is a

EEG toy that monitors brain beta waves which allowed him to demonstrate

to his family that he clearly understand and can...on command respond

with his mind. Everyone in the room was amazed by what he

did. What was interesting none of his family members could

reproduce the same effects. They found the task extremely

difficulty. Seeing what he did brought great joy to us all.

My patient smiled with joy.

Now to find similar type equipment that will allow him to use the

computer or communicate only with his mind. If anyone on the

list serve knows of such a device the family is willing to get

it. I told them I was posting this tonight. I

know of the brain computer interface at MIT, however that device you need

to put in the computer chip inside the brain and the family does NOT want

to do this at this time. Hence, if anyone knows of a device

that he an used, please let me know.

Happy Thanksgiving

Diane

Dr. Diane Stoler, Ed.D., LLC

P.O. Box 148

town, MA 01833

Toll Free in US 888.760.8730

Direct Dial 978.352.6349

For information on how to obtain books:

" Coping with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury:

A Guide to Living with the Challenges Associated with Concussion/

Brain Injury "

" Timeless- a novel:

Who Am I? "

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<http://

www.drdiane.com

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Neuroband:

For the Professional and Home User of

Neurofeedback equipment:

Clink the link below

http://www.drdiane.com/neuroband_order.html

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Dr. Diane ~

Catalyst for Change® - A neuropsychologist who works with

individuals and organizations worldwide, to help them find Solutions

and Resources® to overcome life’s challenges and reach their

goals.

Dr. Diane Stoler, Ed.D., LLC

P.O. Box 148

town, MA 01833

Toll Free in US 888.760.8730

Direct Dial 978.352.6349

For information on how to obtain books:

" Coping with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury:

A Guide to Living with the Challenges Associated with Concussion/

Brain Injury "

" Timeless- a novel:

Who Am I? "

Click the link below

<http://

www.drdiane.com

>

Neuroband:

For the Professional and Home User of

Neurofeedback equipment:

Clink the link below

http://www.drdiane.com/neuroband_order.html

Confidentiality:

This electronic message (E-mail) and any files

attached hereto contain confidential, legally

privileged and protected by copyright. If you

are not the intended recipient, dissemination or copying of this

E-mail is prohibited. If you have received this in error,

please notify the sender by telephone 978.352.8269 or replying by

E-mail to info@..., then delete the E-mail completely from your

system.

This E-mail and any attachments have been scanned for viruses, but it is

the responsibility of the recipient to conduct their own security

measures and no responsibility is accepted by Dr. Diane Stoler,

Ed,D. , LLC d/b/a -Dr. Diane for loss or damage from receipt or use of

this E-mail.

No responsibility is accepted by Dr. Diane Stoler, Ed.D., LLC

d/b/a-Dr. Diane for personal E-mails, or E-mails unconnected with Dr.

Diane Stoler, Ed.D, LLC patients' or client

business.

Dr. Diane ~

Catalyst for Change® - A neuropsychologist who works with

individuals and organizations worldwide, to help them find Solutions

and Resources® to overcome life’s challenges and reach their

goals.

[Guest guest]

Diane

 

I am not sure if I understand this correctly - if he can play with the Force Trainer then he has full (or limited) vision which means eye movement, not just eye blinking?

 

If he can control his eyes, the best input device would be to use eye movement (picked up by a 2 channel EOG system).  One would display a keyboard on the monitor and with eye movement move the cursor to one specific key, then with a long eyeblink or some other input device (straw to suck/blow, or some body twitch sensor, etc.) select said key.

 

I did some preliminary tests for exactly such a device based on my own 2-channel EEG/ECG/EMG/EOG amplifier I designed but I don't have the time at present to continue.

 

I have never used a QDS Focus, but from what I know I'd say that that device is sufficient as input device, except for the " select " mechanism such as that suck/blow straw I mentioned..  It can handle low frequencies down to 0.05Hz (I think) and it's 16-bit resolution should allow for enough signal headroom NOT to saturate due to the much higher EOG signal voltages.

 

In other words you don't need a dedicated EOG device which will be expensive, but should be able to use a reasonable 2-channel EEG amp.  (It would be a simple task for a EE to modify the high-pass filter and reduce the gain of just about any decent EEG amplifier to fullfill the EOG requirements). 

 

A number of universities have these sort of systems in the labs as research subjects.  LabView software would be a good development tool/environment to implement the software for such a device.  For someone fluent in LabView, the basic functionality could be developed in under a week, but all this is on the assumption that your client has reasonable eye movement control.

 

If his eye movement is too limited, one might not be able to get him full alphabet control but perhaps a subset such as yes/no and a few other keywords.  Even the facial twitches could possibly be picked up with EMG and processed, but it is not something one can buy out-of-the-box.  Each individual has different capabilities and requires a custom solution.

 

Regards

Stefan

 

PS. Optical systems that pick up eye movement by means of IR cameras have also been developed and tend to work better and are more user friendly, but these systems are a few orders more expensive.