BRAINGATE TECHNOLOGY

A Technical seminar report on

“ BRAIN GATE TECHNOLOGY”

Submitted in the partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY

IN

ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

Submitted By
K. VANITHA
H.T. No:18701A04F8
Department of ECE

Submitted to
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING
ANNAMACHARYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES::RAJAMPET
(AN AUTONOMOUS INSTITUTION)
(Approved by AICTE, New Delhi, Accredited By NAAC, Bangalore) (Affiliated To J.N.T.U.A,
Anantapuram)

2021-2022

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 BRAINGATE TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

ANNAMACHARYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES::RAJAMPET
(AN AUTONOMOUS INSTITUTION)
(Approved by AICTE, New Delhi, Accredited By NAAC, Bangalore) (Affiliated To J.N.T.U.A,
Anantapuram)

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the Technical Seminar Report entitled “BRAINGATE TECHNOLOGY” is a bonafide
record submitted by K.VANITHA bearing H.T.
No:1870A04F8 in partial fulfillment for the award of Degree of Bachelor of Technology in
“ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING” for the year 2021-2022.

SEMINAR SUPERVISOR-I SEMINAR SUPERVISOR-II

HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT

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S.NO DESCRIPTION PAGE NO

1. Introduction 1-2

1.1 Braingate control function 2-7

2. Neuroprosthetic device 8

3. Basic elements 8-10

3.1 Chip 8

3.2 Connectror 8

3.3 Converter 9

3.4 Computer 10

4. Working principle 10-11

4.1 Detection 10

4.2 Controll 11

4.3 Training 11

5. Signal sending methods 11-12

6. Preprocessing 13

7. Experimental results 13-14

8. Performance evalution 14-17

9. Advantages 17

10. Disadvantages 18

11. Applications 18-19

12. Future scope 20-22

13. Conclusion 23

14. References 24-25

15. PPT 25-36

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ABSTARCT computer commands. Currently, the chip uses about

Thousands of people around the world suffer from 100 hair-thin electrodes that sense the electro-

paralysis, rendering them dependent on others to magnetic signature of neurons firing in specific areas

perform even the most basic tasks. But that could of the brain.

change, thanks to the latest achievements in the field

of BrainGate technology, which could help them The activity is translated into electrically
regain a portion of their lost independence. The charged signals and is then sent and decoded using a
mind-to-movement system that allows a quadriplegic program, which can move a robotic arm, a computer
man to control a computer using only his thoughts is cursor, or even a wheelchair.
a scientific milestone. Braingate neural interface
system is based on, Cyber kinetics platform
technology to sense, transmit, analyze and apply the
language of neurons. Scientists are to implant tiny
computer chips in the brains of paralyzed patients
which could ‘read their thoughts’. It would be a huge
therapeutic application for people who have
seizures, which leads to the idea of a ‘pacemaker for
the brain’

1) INTRODUCTION TO BRAIN GATE

BrainGate is a brain implant system developed
by the bio-tech company‚ Cyber kinetics in Fig:1.Architechture of Braingate Technology

conjunction with the Department of Neuroscience at

Brown University. The development of the braingate Scientists are developing the braingate

system brain-computer interface is to enable those systems underlying core technology in the neuroport

with severe paralysis and other neurological system to enable improved diagnosis and treatment

conditions to live more productively and for a number of neurological conditions, such

independently. The computer chip, which is as epilepsy and brain trauma. Braingate will be the

implanted into the brain, monitors brain activity in first human device that has been designed to record,

the patient and converts the intention of the user into filter, and amplify multiple channels of

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simultaneously recorded neural activity at a very
high spatial and temporal resolution.
Recent advances in radiochemistry have
boosted renewed progress in dedicated brain PET
instrumentation with improved sensitivity [6], [7]. In
fact, though PET has high specificity and sensitivity
compared with other imaging modalities, the signal
to noise ratio (SNR) of PET image is still low due to
the limited resolution and low coincident-photon
counts detected during a given scan time.
The low SNR also limits the achievable
temporal resolution in dynamic PET studies, because
one has either to use long frame durations or to apply
temporal smoothing to reduce noise, which makes it
hard to capture fast dynamic changes. In other
applications, such as the imaging of multiple
sclerosis using TSPO tracer [11C]PK11195, the SNR
is poor also due to low brain penetration and high
non-specific binding of the tracer.
Higher sensitivity allows a reduction of the
radiation dose so that longitudinal studies, such as
those employed in Alzheimer’s disease early
prediction, become more feasible, making the
technique potentially acceptable for the screening of
vulnerable patients [8]. A straightforward way to
improve the sensitivity of dedicated brain PET
scanners is to increase the solid angle coverage.
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This can be achieved either by reducing the
diameter of the cylindrical scanner down to
approximately 350 mm [9], [10], [11], [12], [13] or
by extending the axial field of view (FOV) [14], or
by designing compact geometries adapted to the
shape of the brain [15], [16], [17], [18]. It was shown
in simulations that the sensitivity of a full helmet-
shaped scanner is about 4.2 times higher than that of
a classical cylindrical brain PET [19].
The paradigm of current developments in
brain PET is that the compact design, often with
additional scintillator layers to stabilize the parallax
error, requires an high density of readout channels.
The design of fast readout electronics, capable of
handling this complex configuration, is thus an
important issue in the development of compact brain
PET scanners [20], [21].
A large number of multi-channel application
specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for PET were
developed, providing different solutions for the
analogue-to-digital conversion of the energy and
arrival time of the detected gamma photons and for
the transmission to the data acquisition backend.
Several techniques for the calculation of the energy
were proposed, such as pulse peak conversion [22],
[23], current integration [24], non-linear [25] and
linear [26] time-overthreshold techniques.
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Time stamping was performed with simple or
dual thresholds [27], constant fraction discrimination
[28] and more advanced pattern matching [29]. By
way of example, the TRIROC ASIC is used in the
TRIMAGE brain PET and provides a high-gain and
low-gain path for the time stamping and charge-to-
digital conversion of PET signals, with singles
sorting and coincidence detection by time stamp
comparison performed on a field programmable gate
array (FPGA) in the backend acquisition system
[30], [2].
In another recent concept of brain PET [31], a
single-event 64bit data includes the crystal segment
and depth of interaction (DOI) addresses, the energy
and time stamp, and a valid flag indicating
”acceptable: within the range of the set energy
window” or ”not acceptable out of the range of the
set energy window”. On-the-fly coincidence
detection is performed by the software after each
single-event data set is sorted in time order. In [12]
an improved 48-channel ASIC for brain PET is
proposed, with a suppressed noise level to achieve
lower discrimination energy at 60 keV.
This value makes it possible to use inter-
crystal scatter events and to improve the sensitivity
of the scanner. The modern frontier of PET readout,
however, is digitalsampling electronics. This concept
consists of the digitization of analog output signals
of the sensitive elements for further signal processing
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such as energy and timing pick up [32], [33], [34],
[35].
For example, in a proposed brain PET
prototype [36] the amplified signals are sent to a
position decoder circuit to reduce the number of
readout channels by a factor of 256 and three FPGA-
embedded data acquisition (DAQ) boards are used
for the digitization of analog output signals. In the
recent MINDVIEW brain PET system a readout per
block consists of custom ADC electronic boards with
12 bit precision, capable of processing up to 66
channels.
A main trigger board with programmable
coincidence windows (3, 5, 7 and 9 ns) manages the
detectors whose signals are digitized. The number of
readout channels is reduced using a charge division
network providing information for each row and
column output, which are further digitized [13]. In
recent years we proposed a multi voltage threshold
(MVT) sampling method that takes samples of a
pulse with respect to a set of reference voltages.
If the reference voltages are chosen properly,
the MVT method can always obtain samples at the
fast leading edge of a pulse. The total energy and the
timing of the pulse can be obtained through the
digital signal processing of a small set of samples.
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We have shown that for PET detectors it is
sufficient to use only a few reference voltages to
obtain a small number of samples. As the pulses are
instantaneously digitized and the number of samples
per pulse is small, this sampling method can have a
high count-rate capability without requiring a large
on-board storage buffer [37], [38]. Due to its high
modularity, the digital PET technology based on
MVT readout was given the name of Plug&Imaging
(P&I) sensor technology [39].
simultaneously. The system also decodes these
signals in real time to control a computer or other
external devices. The brain gate technology platform
was designed to take advantage of the fact that many
patients with motor impairment have an intact brain
that can produce movement commands allowing the
brain gate system to create an output signal directly
from the brain, bypassing the route through the
nerves to the muscles that cannot be used in
paralyzed people.

When a person becomes paralyzed, the neural

signal from the brain no longer reaches their
designated site of termination. However, the brain
continues to send out these signals although they do
not reach their destination. It is these signals that the
brain gate system picks up and they must be present
in order for the system to work.

It is found that people with long-standing,

severe paralysis can generate signals in the area of
the brain responsible for voluntary movement and
these signals can be detected, recorded, routed out of
the brain to a computer and converted into actions
enabling a paralyzed patient to perform basic tasks.
Scientists are to implant tiny computer chips in the
Fig:2.Cell body of a motor neuron
brains of paralyzed patients which could ‘read their
thoughts’.
Let us understand how the normal neural activity
functions:
Brain gate consists of a surgically implanted sensor
that records the activity of dozens of brain cells
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 Dendrites: Signals sent through dendrites
cause chemical changes that result in an
electrical signal in the cell body.
 Axons: Nerve impulses are carried through
axons away from the neurons cell body.
 Neuron muscular junction: The signal is
passed by neuron transmitters from synaptic
bulbs on the neurons to muscle fibers. The
muscle fibers then react to the signal.
1.1 How does the brain control motor
function?
The brain is "hardwired" with connections,
which are made by billions of neurons that make
electricity whenever they are stimulated. The
electrical patterns are called brain waves. Neurons
act like the wires and gates in a computer, gathering
and transmitting electrochemical signals over
distances as far as several feet. to new circumstances.
The brain encodes information not by relying on
single neurons, but by spreading it across large
populations of neurons, and by rapidly adapting
Motor neurons carry signals from the central
nervous system to the muscles, skin and glands of the
body, while sensory neurons carry signals from those
outer parts of the body to the central nervous system.
Receptors sense things like chemicals, light, and
sound and encode this information into
electrochemical signals transmitted by the sensory
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neurons. And interneurons tie everything together by
connecting the various neurons within the brain and
spinal cord. The part of the brain that controls motor
skills is located at the ear of the frontal lobe.
How does this communication happen?
Muscles in the body's limbs contain embedded
sensors called muscle spindles that measure the
length and speed of the muscles as they stretch and
contract as you move. Other sensors in the skin
respond to stretching and pressure. Even if paralysis
or disease damages the part of the brain that
processes movement, the brain still makes neural
signals. They're just not being sent to the arms, hands
and legs.
A technique called neurofeedback uses
connecting sensors on the scalp to translate brain
waves into information a person can learn from. The
sensors register different frequencies of the signals
produced in the brain. These changes in brain wave
patterns indicate whether someone is concentrating
or suppressing his impulses, or whether he is relaxed
or tense. Even if paralysis or disease damages the
part of the brain that processes movement, the brain
still makes neural signals. They're just not being sent
to the arms, hands and legs.
2) NEUROPROSTHETIC DEVICE:
A neuroprosthetic device known as Braingate
converts brain activity into computer commands. A
sensor is implanted on the brain, and electrodes are
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hooked up to wires that travel to a pedestal on the is transmitted through the pedestal plug
scalp. From there, a fiber optic cable carries the brain attached to the skull.
activity data to a nearby computer. 3.3 The converter: The signal travels to an
amplifier where it is converted to optical data
The sensors register different frequencies of
and bounced by fiber optic cable to a
the signals produced in the brain. These changes in
computer.
brain wave patterns indicate whether someone is
3.4 The computer: Brain gate learns to associate
concentrating or suppressing his impulses, or
patterns of brain activity with particular
whether he is relaxed or tense.
imagined movements up, down, left, right
The brain encodes information not by and to connect those movements to a cursor.
relying on single neurons, but by spreading it across
large populations of neurons, and by rapidly adapting
. Receptors sense things like chemicals, light, and
sound and encode this information into
electrochemical signals transmitted by the sensory
neurons

WORKING

3) The basic elements of BrainGate are:

3.1 The chip: A four-millimeter square silicon

chip studded with about 100 hair-thin
microelectrodes is embedded in the primary
motor cortex, the region of the brain Fig:3.A silicon chip implanted in the brain cortex through
pedestal
responsible for controlling movement.
3.2 The connector: When the person thinks of
moving the computer cursor, electrodes on When the person thinks of moving the

the silicon chip implanted into the person’s computer cursor, electrodes on the silicon chip

brain detect neural activity. His cortical implanted into the person’s brain detect neural

neurons fire in a distinctive pattern, the signal activity from an array of neural impulses in the brains
motor cortex. The impulses transfer from the chip to

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a pedestal protruding from the scalp through
connection wires.
The pedestal filters out unwanted signals or
noise and then transfers the signal to an amplifier.
The signal is captured by acquisition system and is
sent through a fiber optic cable to a computer. The
computer then translates the signal into an action,
causing the cursor to move.
The braingate system is a neuromotor
prosthetic device consisting of an array of one
hundred silicon microelectrodes; each electrode is
1mm long and thinner than a human hair. The
electrodes are arranged less than half a millimeter
apart in the array, which is attached to a 13cm-long
cable ribbon cable connecting it to a computer.
The BrainGate neural interface system is a
proprietary, investigational Brain-Computer
Interface (BCI) that consists of an internal sensor to
detect brain cell activity and external processors that
convert these brain signals into a computer-mediated
output under the person’s own control.The sensor is
implanted on the surface of the area of the brain
responsible for voluntary movement, the motor
cortex. The electrodes penetrate about 1mm into the
surface of the brain where they pick up electrical
signals known as neural spiking, the language of the
brain from nearby neurons and transmit them
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through thin gold wires to a titanium pedestal that
protrudes about an inch above the patient’s scalp.
An external cable connects the pedestal to
computers, signal processors, and monitors. The
technology is able to sense the electrical activity of
many individual neurons at one time the data is
transmitted from the neurons in the brain to
computers where it is analyzed and the thoughts are
used to control an external device.
4) PRINCIPLE
4.1) DETECTION
The detection of the input from the user and
them translating it into an action could be considered
as key part of any BCI system. This detection means
to try to find out these mental tasks from the EEG
signal. It can be done in time-domain, e.g. by
comparing amplitudes of the EEG and in frequency-
domain. This involves usually digital signal
processing for sampling and band pass filtering the
signal, then calculating these time -or frequency
domain features and then classifying them.
These classification algorithms include
simple comparison of amplitudes linear and
nonlinear equations and artificial neural networks.
By constant feedback from user to the system and
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vice versa, both partners gradually learn more from

each other and improve the overall performance.

4.2) CONTROLL

The final part consists of applying the will of

the user to the used application. The user chooses an
action by controlling his brain activity, which is then
detected and classified to corresponding action.
Feedback is provided to user by audio-visual means
e.g. when typing with virtual keyboard, letter appears
to the message box etc.

4.3) TRAINING

The training is the part where the user adapts
to the BCI system. This training begins with very
simple exercises where the user is familiarized with
mental activity which is used to relay the information
to the computer. This training begins with very
simple exercises where the user is familiarized with
mental activity which is used to relay the information
to the computer.
Bio-Feedback: The definition of the biofeedback is
biological information which is returned to the
source that created it, so that source can understand
it and have control over it. This biofeedback in BCI
systems is usually provided visually, e.g. the user
sees cursor moving up or down or letter being
selected from the alphabet.
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Fig:4.Multichannel Acquisition
Our brains are filled with neurons, individual
nerve cells connected to one another by dendrites and
axons. Every time we think, move, feel or remember
something, our neurons are at work. That work is
carried out by small electric signals that zip from
neuron to neuron as fast as 250 mph. The signals are
generated by differences in electric potential carried
by ions on the membrane of each neuron.
Although, the paths, signals take are insulated
by something called myelin, some of the electric
signal escapes. Scientists can detect those signals.
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. They could rig a camera that would send those what signals are sent to the brain by the optic nerve
exactly when someone sees the color red. They could rig a
camera that would send those exact signals into
someone’s brain whenever the camera saw red,
allowing a blind person to “see” without eyes. They
could rig a camera that would send those exact
signals into someone’s brain whenever the camera
saw red, allowing a blind person to “see” without
eyes.

FIG 5 : Basic working principle of Brain gate

interpret what they mean and use them to direct a

device of some kind. It can also work the other way
around. For example, researchers could figure out

5) SIGNAL SENDING METHODS 5.1 ECoG: Invasive method

5.2 EEG: Non invasive method
Basically, there are two methods to sense the signals
ECoG – Electrocorticography:
sent by the neurons:

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This measures the electrical activity of the EEG – Electroencephalography:

brain taken from beneath the skull. Here the
electrodes are embedded in a thin plastic pad that is
placed above the cortex, beneath the duramater.
ECoG is a very promising intermediate BCI (Brain
computer interface) modality because it has higher
spatial resolution, better signal-to-noise ratio, wider
frequency range, and lesser training requirements
than scalp-recorded Electroencephalography (EEG),
and at the same time has lower technical difficulty,
lower clinical risk, and probably superior long-term
stability than intracortical single-neuron recording.
This feature profile and recent evidence of the
high level of control with minimal training
requirements shows potential for real world
application for people with motor disabilities. To get
a higher-resolution signal, scientists can implant
electrodes directly into the gray matter of the brain
itself, or on the surface of the brain, beneath the skull.
This allows for much more direct reception of
electric signals and allows electrode placement in the
specific area of the brain where the appropriate
signals are generated.
The easiest and least invasive method is a set
of electrodes. A device known as an
electroencephalograph is attached to the scalp. The
electrodes can read brain signals. However, the skull
blocks a lot of the electrical signal, and it distorts
what does get through.
It is the most studied potential non-invasive
interface, mainly due to its fine temporal resolution,
ease of use, portability and low set-up cost. A
substantial barrier to using EEG as a brain-computer
interface is the extensive training required before
users can work the technology.Signals recorded in
this way have been used to power muscle implants
and restore partial movement in an experimental
volunteer.
They are easy to wear, non-invasive implants
produce poor signal resolution because the skull
dampens signals, dispersing and blurring the
electromagnetic waves created by the neurons.

6) PREPROCESSING
This approach has many problems, however. It
requires invasive surgery to implant the electrodes, The raw EEG signal requires some

and devices left in the brain long-term tend to cause preprocessing before the feature extraction. This

the formation of scar tissue in the gray matter. This preprocessing includes removing unnecessary

scar tissue ultimately blocks signals. frequency bands, averaging the current brain activity
level, transforming the measured scalp potentials to

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cortex potentials and denoising. Frequency bands of The results showed that a human with
the EEG : tetraplegia was able to control a cursor on a computer
screen just by thinking, enabling him to open emails,
.
and to operate devices such as a television[7].
Band Frequen- Amplit- Location
cy [Hz] -ude
One participant, Matt Nagle, had a spinal
[_V]
cord injury, whilst another had advanced ALS. In
Alpha 8-12 10 -150 Occipital/
July 2009, a second clinical trial (dubbed
(_) Parietal
"BrainGate2") was initiated. In May 2012, Brain
regions
Gate researchers published a study in
µ- 9-11 varies Precentral/
Nature[8]demonstrating that two people paralyzed
rhythm Postcentra
by brainstem stroke several years earlier were able to
l regions
control robotic arms for reaching and grasping.Since
Beta 14 -30 25 typically
2009, clinical trials are being conducted under the
(_) frontal
name "BrainGate2 Neural Interface System” .
regions
Theta 4-7 varies varies
As of October 14, 2014, Stanford University,
(_)
Massachusetts General Hospital, Case Western
Delta
<3 varies varies Reserve University (Ohio) and Providence VA
(_)
Medical Center are actively recruiting participants
for the ongoing BrainGate2 clinical trial

7) RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTAL

RESULTS
The initial clinical trial of Brain Gate, led by
researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital,
Brown University, and the Department of Veterans
Affairs, ran from 2004 to 2006 and studied four
patients with tetraplegia[6].
BIO FEEDBACK:
The definition of the biofeedback is
biological information which is returned to the
source that created it, so that source can understand
it and have control over it. This biofeedback in BCI
systems is usually provided by visually, e.g. the user
sees cursor moving up or down or letter being
selected from the alphabet.

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A boon to the paralyzed -Brain Gate Neural
Interface System
The first patient, Matthew Nagle, a 25-year-
old Massachusetts man with a severe spinal cord
injury, has been paralyzed from the neck down since
2001. Nagle is unable to move his arms and legs after
he was stabbed in the neck. During 57 sessions, at
New England Sinai Hospital and Rehabilitation
Center, Nagle learned to open simulated e-mail, draw
circular shapes using a paint program on the
computer and play a simple videogame, "neural
Pong," using only his thoughts.
Nagle is unable to move his arms and legs after
he was stabbed in the neck. During 57 sessions, at
New England Sinai Hospital and Rehabilitation
Center, Nagle learned to open simulated e-mail, draw
circular shapes using a paint program on the
computer and play a simple videogame, "neural
Pong," using only his thoughts.
Brain Gate Technology
He could change the channel and adjust the
volume on a television, even while conversing. He
was ultimately able to open and close the fingers of
a prosthetic hand and use a robotic limb to grasp and
move objects. Despite a decline in neural signals
after few months, Nagle remained an active
participant in the trial and continued to aid the
clinical team in producing valuable feedback
concerning the BrainGate` technology.
He was ultimately able to open and close the
fingers of a prosthetic hand and use a robotic limb to
grasp and move objects.
PERFORMANCE EVALUTION
Because of the lack of specific NEMA
procedures for dedicated brain systems, following
[41], NEMA standards for small animal and clinical
PET systems have been adapted case by case [42],
[43].
1) System calibration: energy and time
resolution: We placed a point-like 22Na
radioactive source with 30 µCi activity in the
center of the FOV. The acquisition time was
approximately 10 minutes in order to
guarantee more than 50000 events in each
channel.
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The mean and the variance σ of the 511 keV
photoelectric peak were used for the calibration of
each channel. After applying an energy window
selection of 2 σ around the 511 keV peak, we
calculated the difference of the detection times of the
selected events for each line of response (LOR). We
defined the time resolution for each LOR as the
FWHM of the coincidence time distribution.
2) Count rate performance: We produced two
phantoms with increasing size. They
consisted of a high density polyethylene
(0.96±0.1) g/cm3 cylinder with a length of
(400.0±0.5) mm, (700.0±0.5) mm and a
diameter of (100.0±0.5) mm, (202.0±0.5)
mm respectively.
The volume of the two phantoms was 3140
ml and 22421.8 ml respectively. We carved a
cylindrical hole with a diameter of 3.2 mm
parallel to the longitudinal axis at a radial
distance from the center of the FOV of 29.5 mm
and 45 mm respectively.
We filled the hole with 7.9 mCi and 15 mCi
[18F]-Fludeoxyglucose ([18F]-FDG),
respectively, diluted in saline solution. We
placed the phantom on the scanning bed with its
axial direction coinciding with the axial direction
of the detector ring.
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We placed one face of the cylinder at the
beginning of the axial FOV. We calculated the
rate of total, true, scatter random and Noise
Equivalent Count (NEC) following the procedure
in [42] for the first smaller phantom and in [43]
for the larger phantom.
The scattered counts were calculated by
subtraction of random, intrinsic and true counts
from the total number of counts. The random and
intrinsic counts were computed according to the
delayed window technique.
All the delayed coincidences within a 100
ns time window are recorded as random
coincidences. When the FDG source is not
present inside the FOV, the random coincidences
are considered intrinsic to the Lu-176 radioactive
decay the random coincidences.
3) Sensitivity: We placed a 22Na point source
with 30 µCi activity first in the center of the
FOV and then we moved it on both sides
along the axial direction in steps of 5 mm in
order to cover a total distance of 200mm. The
acquisitiontime for each
pointwas3minutesinordertoguaranteeapproxi
mately10000 events.
We performed a background acquisition
removing the source from the FOV, in order to
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estimate the intrinsic coincidence rate. We
calculated the sensitivity and the absolute
sensitivity following the procedure in [42].
4) Spatialresolution: Weusedapoint-like
22Naradioactive source with 30 µCi activity.
We studied the space resolution at the center
of the FOV and at a distance of 50 mm from
the center along the longitudinal axis. For
both axial positions we placed the source at a
series of radial points ranging between 5 mm
and 150 mm radial distance from the FOV.
The acquisition time for each point was 5
minutes. We quoted the axial, tangent and
longitudinal profiles of the reconstructed image
with the technique reported in [42] We quoted the
axial, tangent and longitudinal profiles with the
technique.
5) Animal and human imaging: For the
evaluation of the imaging capabilities of the
digital brain PET scanner we performed an
animal imaging and a human imaging
experiment.
Animal experiments were performed
under approval of the
animalethicscommitteeoftheTongjiHospital,Wu
han,China. We used a rabbit, which was kept
fasting for 24 hr. After anesthetizing it with 5 ml
Brain Gate Technology
10% chloral hydrate solution, we placed it on the
movable stage bed and we injected 5.42 mCi
[18F]-FDG. 50 minutes after the injection we
performed a 20 min PET scan.
We performed the image reconstruction
with a 3DOSEM/PSF algorithm, with 5 iterations
and without scatter and attenuation corrections.
Human experiments were performed on a 33
years old male human subject (height 176 cm,
weight 67 kg) under approval of the First
Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University,
Guangzhou, China.
The subject was kept fasting for 24 hr and
was injected with 4.7 mCi [18F]-FDG. 40
minutes after the injection we performed a 10
min PET scan. In order to exploit the potential of
the digital PET technique, the postprocessing of
the acquired digital data was performed with 2 ns
and 10 ns coincidence time window. We
performed the image reconstruction with a 3D
OSEM PSF algorithm, with 5 iterations and
without scatter and attenuation corrections. We
did not apply any normalization to the data.
We selected two volumes of interests
(VOI) corresponding to the white matter as
reference region and gray matter respectively and
we calculated the average µ and standard
deviation σ of the voxel values in the two VOI.
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We calculated the contrast ratio (CR) and the physically disabled people by allowing them
contrast to noise ratio (CNR) as CR = to quickly and reliably control a wide range
µwhite/σwhite and CNR = (µgray of devices by thought, including computers,
−µwhite)/σwhite. environmental controls, robotics and medical
devices.

ADVANTAGES OF BRAIN GATE 2. One of the most exciting areas of BCI

research is the development of devices that
can be controlled by thoughts. Some of the
1. BrainGate can remain safely implanted in the
applications of this technology may seem
brain for at least two years.
frivolous, such as the ability to control a
2. Later it can safely be removed as well.
video game by thought. If you think a remote
3. Spiking from many neurons the language of
control is convenient, imagine changing
the brain can be recorded, routed outside the
channels with your mind.
human brain and decoded into command
3. Once the basic mechanism of converting
signals.
thoughts to computerized or robotic action is
4. Paralyzed humans can directly and
perfected, the potential uses for the
successfully control external devices, such as
technology are almost limitless. Instead of a
a computer cursor using these neural
robotic hand, disabled users could have
command signals. Paralyzed humans can
robotic braces attached to their own limbs,
directly and successfully control external
allowing them to move and directly interact
devices, such as a computer cursor using
with the environment. This could even be
these neural command signals.
accomplished without the “robotic” part of
5. The speed, accuracy, and precision are
the device. Signals could be sent to the
comparable to a non-disabled person there is
appropriate motor control nerves in the
no training necessary (just the ability to think
hands, bypassing a damaged section of the
of an action).
spinal cord and allowing actual movement of
APPLICATIONS the subject’s own hands.
4. Cyberkinetics is also developing products to

1. The brain gate neural interface system is an allow for robotic control, such as a thought-

investigational medical device that is being controlled wheelchair. Next generation

developed to improve the quality of life for products may be able to provide an individual

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 BRAINGATE TECHNOLOGY
with the ability to control devices that allow
breathing, bladder and bowel movements.
5. The brain gate system has allowed people
with paralysis to operate a computer in order
to read e-mail, control a wheelchair and
operate a robotic hand.
6. The system will connect the brain gate sensor
with functional electrical stimulation (FES)
system, which uses electrical impulses to
trigger muscle and limb movement. The first
version will allow users to make simple
movements that could be used to perform
tasks such as eating or drinking using their
own arms and hands and under the natural
control of their own brains. The initial
version of this FES system would use arm
supports. Later versions, however, won’t
require supports and will allow users to do
activities that require more dexterity, such as
using cell phones or remote controls.
7. The device can be used in an interactive
environment; activity surrounding the patient
will not affect the accuracy of the device.
TROUBLES ASSOCIATED WITH THE
BRAIN GATE
Reading brain signals is not an easy task as
even a simple movement, such as raising a hand,
requires electrical signals from many regions of the
brain. Implanted electrodes pick up just a tiny
Brain Gate Technology
fraction of the signals from neurons that fire. It is
difficult for the computer to convert these signals
resulting in the cursor jiggling and making it difficult
to select icons on the screen with accuracy.
Other BrainGate short comings include:
1. Size: Brain gate right now has a bulky look
with cables and processors. The device has to
be less bulky to make the technology
mainstream.
Cyber kinetics is developing a
prototype of a device that would fit behind
the ear of the patient, much like the cochlear
implant, and connect via a magnet to the
computer equipment, thus eliminating the
need to cross the skin. This will lead to a
wireless Brain Gate, giving the patient
greater freedom.
2. Calibration: In its current form, it is
essential to recalibrate the device before each
use by the patient. The team is working on
automated calibration to allow greater
independence to the user.
3. Muscle connection: Today, a direct
connection from the computer to a muscle is
not possible. But researchers believe that they
will be able to achieve coordinated muscle
movement. In theory, electrodes and wires
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 BRAINGATE TECHNOLOGY
could connect muscles to the functioning
brain, thus bypassing the damaged spinal
cord.
4. The brain is incredibly complex. To say
that all thoughts or actions are the result of
simple electric signals in the brain is a gross
understatement. There are about 100 billion
neurons in a human brain. Each neuron is
constantly sending and receiving signals
through a complex web of connections. There
are chemical processes involved as well,
which EEGs can’t pick up on.
Each neuron is constantly sending and
receiving signals through a complex web of
connections. There are chemical processes
involved as well, which EEGs can’t pick up
on.
FURTHER SCOPE
Brain gate technology’s scope includes a
secondgeneration interface software M*Power
controller that will enable users to perform a wide
variety of daily activities without assistances of
technician. The system can be made smaller and
wireless. This solves the issue of portability.
Moreover the user will have an improved control of
respiratory system, limb with muscle stimulation or
robotics. The goal of this development program
would be to allow these individuals to one day use
their own arms and hands again.
Brain Gate Technology
Limb movement developments are currently
at the research stage and are not available for use
with the existing Brain Gate System. In addition,
products are in development to allow for robotic
control, such as a thought-controlled wheelchair. In
the future, the Brain Gate System could be used by
those individuals whose injuries are less severe.
Next generation products may be able to
provide an individual with the ability to control
devices that allow breathing, bladder and bowel
movements. Currently The Brain Gate Neural
Interface System is an investigational device and is
not approved for sale.
However it is available through a clinical
study. Although Brain Gate being developed by The
Brain Gate Company and other Brain Computer
Interface are still in the early stages, they indicate
future directions for what is possible Brain Computer
Interface are still in the early stages, they indicate
future directions for what is possible[9].
DISCUSSION
The findings presented above can be
benchmarked with respect to recently proposed brain
pet systems using both conventional analog readout
electronics and novel digital readout methods. The
key advantage of the digital brain PET system
presented in this paper is the fast bandwidth of the
digital P&I technology, which is facing the challenge
of event rates and system electronics.
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 BRAINGATE TECHNOLOGY
Single events are collected by each detector
module at a rate that is similar to other systems for
the same injected activity. The challenge here is to
obtain a digitization of the signal without introducing
a significant fractional dead time. Furthermore, as the
data stream includes all prompts, without any
specific event selection, such as time and energy
window, the additional dead time introduced by
conventional time coincidence electronics is
removed.
As a result, as shown in the human acquisition
example above, offline analysis for the improvement
of image quality in clinics may include, among
others, optimization of the coincidence time window
and energy window.
Thanks to the small size of the data package,
the fractional dead time of the digital sampling
electronics does not impact significantly the scanner
performance, allowing achieving optimal count rate
and sensitivity, with respect to the geometry of the
scanner. While in previous studies [38], [39] we have
demonstrated the applicability of this technique to
small scale prototypes, in this paper we show for the
first time the performances of the P&I techniques in
a large-scale medical imaging system.
The figure of merit of the digital brain PET
scanner is the count rate performance. In brain PET
systems with conventional analog electronics
readout, such as in [44], the peak count rate for the
trues was at 323.5×103 counts/s at an activity
Brain Gate Technology
concentration of22.7 kBq/ml. The peak of the NEC
rate was at 30.7×103
counts/satanactivitylevelof7.3kBq/ml.Similarly, the
NEC peak was measured between 50 kcps and 75.1
kcps at an activity of approximately 50 kBq/ml in
[10], [45].
In a brain PET employing CdTe
semiconductor detectors [12], the maximal reported
value of the NEC rate was 48 kcps in the range
between 16 kBq/ml and 31 kBq/ml. More recently
[31], in a brain PET system using offline software
coincidence detection methods similar to the one
presented in this paper, a NEC peak of 27.9 kcps at
11.9 kBq/ml was reported.
Despite the high true coincidence rate, the
result was mainly limited by an high rate of random
coincidences. Finally, in a brain PET prototype based
on LySO/SiPM sensors and on a digital signal
processing with FPGA-embedded ADC board [46],
the best achieved NEC rate was 6.5 kcps at an
activity of 5.5 kBq/ml.
This low value was mainly due to a short axial
FOV. The maximal NEC rate of the digital brain PET
system proposed in this paper is thus approximately
two times better than the currently available state-of-
the art systems. The count rate performance could be
improved considering that the scatter fraction of 53%
measured for the human-sized phantom reflects the
absence of any tungsten shielding in the prototype.
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By way of example, a value as low as 34.7%
may be obtained in dedicated brain PET scanners,
suggesting that it could be of interest to add a
tungsten septa for reduction of external radiation
[46].
As for the scanner sensitivity, the best
possible value expected in compact brain PET
systems with cylindrical shape was determined in
dedicated simulations as 61 cps/kBq [41], [1].
High sensitivity scanners obtained with
analog electronics readout were designed. For
example, the human brain PET
insertsystembySIEMENShasachievedthehighestsens
itivity in the center of the FOV of approximately 64
cps/kBq [44]. Higher sensitivity in the range between
150 cps/kBq and 400 cps/kBq were obtained in [10],
[45].
Similarly a maximal sensitivity of 57
cps/kBq was reached in [47]. More recent brain PET
designs reached sensitivities ranging between 19
cps/kBq [31] and 21 cps/kBq [13]. The sensitivity of
the digital brain PET proposed in this paper is thus
close to the best expectation for modern brain PET
scanners.
The spatial resolution at the center of the
FOV obtained with the FBP reconstruction is
approximately 3.3 mm (FWHM) and is consistent
with the expected resolution of a PET system with
3.95 mm pitch [48]. By way of example, the
Brain Gate Technology
LabPET4 system with 1:1 coupling reports 1.51 mm
resolution since the crystal pitch is 2 mm [49].
The OSEM-3D reconstruction method
allows improving the spatial resolution to
approximately 1.7 mm (FWHM) at the center of the
FOV. However, a disadvantage of the digital brain
PET is the absence of the DOI correction.
The effect of DOI is most notably in
transaxial images at large distance from the axis and
then primarily in the tails of the point-spread
function, with a consequent degradation of the space
resolution with large distortions reaching more than
100% increase in FWHM at 100 mm off axis.
This feature was observed in brain PET
scanners without DOI measurement. In [46], the
radial and tangential resolutions varied from 3.1 mm
to 3.5 mm and 3.1 mm to 5.4 mm at the center of the
FOV and at 120 mm off-center respectively.
Most of recent brain PET systems are based
on a correction of the DOI, which is instrumental to
achieve a better space resolution. By way of
example, in [31] a four-layer depth of interaction
detector was designed containing five detector units
axially lined up per layer board.
Each of the detector units consisted of a
finely segmented (1.2 mm) LYSO scintillator array
and an 8×8 array of multi-pixel photon counters,
allowing a space resolution of approximately 0.9 mm
(FWHM). In similar approaches, the possible
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achieved space resolution thanks to the DOI
correction could be in the range between 0.7 mm and
1.7 mm [13].
The drawback of such scanners, as mentioned
above, is the lower sensitivity, because of the higher
complexity of the system. Imaging performance is
optimized offline after data acquisition. This unique
feature of the digital brain PET prototype proposed
in this paper represents a clear advantage with
respect to traditional PET systems, where the
coincidence time window is applied during data
taking and an offline optimization of the image
quality changing the basic acquisition parameters
such as energy or coincidence time window is not
possible.
In the reported brain imaging cases a change
of the coincidence time window from 10 ns to 2 ns
improves the noise level (CR) of approximately
50%, due to the lower component of random
coincidences, without adversely affecting the image
contrast (CNR). Finally, it is important to note that
the digital readout scheme proposed in this paper
requires a novel approach to computing for PET.
The high sensitivity and count rate
performance, together with the four threshold time
stamping technique, implies to collect approximately
1.7 Gbytes/s at the maximal prompts count rate of
100 Mcps. The raw data of a typical digital brain PET
scan may thus approach a volume of few hundreds
Gbytes. This trend in modern high sensitivity and
Brain Gate Technology
high resolution brain PET systems was already
appreciated in [9], where, for example, the NEMA-
2001 count rate study with 370 MBq (a clinical
relevant dose) in the 700 mm phantom generated in
1 h a list mode file of approximately 100 Gbyte in
size.
This not only demanded large data storage
discs and backup facilities, but also required very fast
data handling from the PET acquisition computer,
considering the rate at which the data stream came
in.
CONCLUSION
The technology driving this breakthrough in
the Brain-Machine-Interface field has a myriad of
potential applications, including the development of
human augmentation for military and commercial
purposes The primary goal of this technology and
devices like brain gate is to help those are who are
paralyzed to perform routine activities that are part
of normal human existence. The brain gate can be
used to replace the memory center in patients
affected by strokes, epilepsy or Alzheimers disease.
The ‘BrainGate’ device can provide paralyzed or
motor-impaired patients a mode of communication
through the translation of thought into direct
computer control. Normal humans may also be able
to utilize BrainGate technology to enhance their
relationship with the digital world provided they are
willing to receive the implant.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT With Tetraplegia (BrainGate2)". ClinicalTrials.gov.

Retrieved 5 April 2021.

This work was supported in part by the [4]. Cuthbertson, Anthony (3 April 2021). "Scientists

Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) connect human brain to computer wirelessly for first

(Grants 61425001, 61210003, 61604059, 61601190 time ever". The Independent. Retrieved 5 April 2021

and 61671215); in part by the Natural Science [5] A. M. Scarf and M. Kassiou, “The translocator
Foundation of Hubei Province (Grant 2016CFA005); protein,” Journal of nuclear medicine, vol. 52, pp.
in part by National Key Scientific Instrument and 677–680, 2011.
Equipment Development Program of China
(2013YQ030923); in part by National Key Scientific [6] B. F. Huton, T. Yamaya, and L. R. Furenlid,

Instrument and Equipment Development Program of “Dedicated molecular imaging systems for human

Hubei Province (2013BEC050); in part by National neurological studies,” IEEE Trans Rad Plasma Med

Key Research and Development Program of China Sci, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 252–253, 2019. [7]

(2016YFF0101500), in part by the Science and A. J. Gonzalez, “Organ-dedicated molecular

Technology Planning Project of Guangdong imaging systems,” IEEE Trans Rad Plasma Med Sci,
Province Grant No. 2017B020210001. vol. 2, no. 5, pp. 388–403, 2019.

[8] M. Villien, “Dynamic functional imaging of

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