Effect of Repeating a Tactile Brain-Computer Interface on Patients with Disorder of Consciousness: A Hint of Recovery?

Ren Xu1, Alexander Heilinger2, Nensi Murovec2, Rossella Spataro3, Woosang Cho4, Fan Cao5, Brendan Allison6, Christoph Guger

  • 1Guger Technologies OG
  • 2g.tec medical engineering GmbH
  • 3University of Palermo
  • 4University of Tubingen
  • 5Imperial College London
  • 6TUG

Details

16:30 - 18:30 | Thu 21 Mar | Grand Ballroom B | ThPO.8

Session: Poster Session I

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Abstract

Brain-computer interface (BCI) has been emerging as an assessment tool for patients with disorder of consciousness (DOC). With the advantages of high time resolution, low cost and portable design, EEG based BCI systems are especially suitable for bedside measurement. Recent studies showed the successful application of an EEG based BCI on DOC assessment and communication. However, the effect of repeated BCI measurement on this patient group is not clear. In this study, a tactile BCI paradigm was repeated 12 runs for 10 consecutive days on 5 DOC patients. Although the BCI performance varied among runs and days, every patient reached at least once the accuracy above 60%. Moreover, the Coma Recovery Scale Revised improved on two out of the five patients. This study addressed the significance of repeating a tactile BCI on DOC patients, and indicates a promising recovery effect of a tactile BCI on DOC patients.