@article {4367, title = {Enhancing Communication for People in Late-Stage ALS Using an fNIRS-Based BCI System.}, journal = {IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng}, volume = {28}, year = {2020}, month = {05/2020}, pages = {1198-1207}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: Brain-computer interface (BCI) based communication remains a challenge for people with later-stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who lose all voluntary muscle control. Although recent studies have demonstrated the feasibility of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to successfully control BCIs primarily for healthy cohorts, these systems are yet inefficient for people with severe motor disabilities like ALS. In this study, we developed a new fNIRS-based BCI system in concert with a single-trial Visuo-Mental (VM) paradigm to investigate the feasibility of enhanced communication for ALS patients, particularly those in the later stages of the disease.

METHODS: In the first part of the study, we recorded data from six ALS patients using our proposed protocol (fNIRS-VM) and compared the results with the conventional electroencephalography (EEG)-based multi-trial P3Speller (P3S). In the second part, we recorded longitudinal data from one patient in the late locked-in state (LIS) who had fully lost eye-gaze control. Using statistical parametric mapping (SPM) and correlation analysis, the optimal channels and hemodynamic features were selected and used in linear discriminant analysis (LDA).

RESULTS: Over all the subjects, we obtained an average accuracy of 81.3\%{\textpm}5.7\% within comparatively short times (< 4 sec) in the fNIRS-VM protocol relative to an average accuracy of 74.0\%{\textpm}8.9\% in the P3S, though not competitive in patients with no substantial visual problems. Our longitudinal analysis showed substantially superior accuracy using the proposed fNIRS-VM protocol (73.2\%{\textpm}2.0\%) over the P3S (61.8\%{\textpm}1.5\%).

SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings indicate the potential efficacy of our proposed system for communication and control for late-stage ALS patients.

}, keywords = {Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, brain-computer interfaces, Communication, Electroencephalography, Humans, Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared}, issn = {1558-0210}, doi = {10.1109/TNSRE.2020.2980772}, author = {Borgheai, Seyyed Bahram and McLinden, John and Zisk, Alyssa Hillary and Hosni, Sarah Ismail and Deligani, Roohollah Jafari and Abtahi, Mohammadreza and Mankodiya, Kunal and Shahriari, Yalda} }