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Brainwave assistant helps paralyzed people move

A Tainan-based university hospital has completed the development of a movement assistance system for paralyzed patients that uses a brainwave detector to sense the user’s thoughts and directs its mechanical components to act accordingly, the system’s developers said yesterday.

Researchers at National Cheng Kung University Hospital said the hospital had spent almost a decade developing and refining the system, and last year finally finished a working prototype, which was then clinically tested.

Lin Chou-ching (林宙晴), a physician at the hospital’s neurology department who is participating in the project, said that when the system was tested on healthy people, 80 percent of the desired actions were carried out correctly. These included turning lights on or off and sitting or standing with the assistance of the system.

“The best aspect of the system is that it uses non-intrusive means to capture brainwaves, thus minimizing risks,” Lin said.

Detection electrodes are placed on the user’s scalp to record changes in the brainwaves. The signals are then analyzed by a portable computer, which controls the other components of the system, he said.

Lin said that even though the system had potential, further clinical testing could be hindered by a lack of volunteers.

“We need more paralyzed patients to participate in our experiments to further improve the system, but hardly any of the patients we asked were willing to volunteer,” Lin said.
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