Demonstration of a portable intracortical brain-computer interface

While recent advances in intracortical brain-computer interfaces (iBCI) have demonstrated the ability to restore motor and communication functions, such demonstrations have generally been confined to controlled experimental settings and have required bulky laboratory hardware. Here, we developed and evaluated a self-contained portable iBCI that enabled the user to interact with various computer programs. The iBCI, which weighs 1.5 kg, consists of digital headstages, a small signal processing hub, and a tablet PC. A human participant tested the portable iBCI in laboratory and home settings under an FDA Investigational Device Exemption (NCT01894802). The participant successfully completed 96% of trials in a 2D cursor center-out task with the portable iBCI, a rate indistinguishable from that achieved with the standard laboratory iBCI. The participant also completed a variety of free-form tasks, including drawing, gaming, and typing.

尽管近年来皮层内脑机接口（intracortical brain-computer interfaces, iBCI）的技术进展已证实其可恢复运动与通信功能，但此类验证通常仅局限于受控实验环境，且需依赖笨重的实验室硬件。本研究中，我们开发并评估了一款集成式便携皮层内脑机接口，可使用户与各类计算机程序实现交互。该设备重1.5千克，由数字头部采集模块、小型信号处理枢纽以及一台平板电脑组成。一名人类受试者在美国食品药品监督管理局（Food and Drug Administration, FDA）研究性器械豁免（Investigational Device Exemption）批准下（临床试验编号NCT01894802），在实验室与居家环境中对该便携皮层内脑机接口进行了测试。受试者使用该便携设备时，在二维光标中心-向外任务中成功完成了96%的试次，该成功率与标准实验室皮层内脑机接口所达成的表现无显著差异。受试者还完成了各类自由交互任务，包括绘图、游戏与打字。