Reaching and Grasping a Glass of Water by Locked-In ALS Patients through a BCI-Controlled Humanoid Robot.

Rossella Spataro,Marcello Giardina,Brendan Allison,Salvatore Tramonte,Christoph Guger,Rosario Sorbello,Antonio Chella,Antonio Chella,Vincenzo La Bella

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2017.00068

Abstract

Locked-in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) patients are fully dependent on caregivers for any daily need. At this stage, basic communication and environmental control may not be possible even with commonly used augmentative and alternative communication devices. Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology allows users to modulate brain activity for communication and control of machines and devices, without requiring a motor control. In the last several years, numerous articles have described how persons with ALS could effectively use BCIs for different goals, usually spelling. In the present study, locked-in ALS patients used a BCI system to directly control the humanoid robot NAO (Aldebaran Robotics, France) with the aim of reaching and grasping a glass of water. Four ALS patients and four healthy controls were recruited and trained to operate this humanoid robot through a P300-based BCI. A few minutes training was sufficient to efficiently operate the system in different environments. Three out of the four ALS patients and all controls successfully performed the task with a high level of accuracy. These results suggest that BCI-operated robots can be used by locked-in ALS patients as an artificial alter-ego, the machine being able to move, speak and act in his/her place.

Highlights

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease leading to progressive limb muscle paralysis, dysarthria and dysphagia
We show here that a ready-to-use, fairly inexpensive, fast and flexible Brain Computer Interface (BCI)-Robot system can could potentially provide a useful tool for advanced ALS patients, improving their interpersonal interactions and autonomy
A BCI-Robot system was developed to allow ALS patients in a locked-in state to control the humanoid robot NAO by directing it to get a glass of water

Summary

Introduction

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease leading to progressive limb muscle paralysis, dysarthria and dysphagia. Given the relentless clinical decline, patients become quadriplegic and anarthric in the advanced stages of the disease, a condition termed locked-in syndrome (LIS) (Smith and Delargy, 2005) These patients often find muscle-based control systems fatiguing, and BCIs could provide a complementary means of communication (Leeb et al, 2011). Many locked-in ALS patients even lose control of BCI-Robot System for Locked-in Patients eye movements and any other voluntary motor function, proceeding to a complete locked in syndrome (C-LIS) At this stage, the patient remains fully conscious, but becomes unable to effectively use any movement-driven device (De Massari et al, 2013; Spataro et al, 2014)

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