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Evaluation of a modified Fitts law brain–computer interface target acquisition task in able and motor disabled individuals

E A Felton, R G Radwin, J A Wilson and J C Williams

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A brain–computer interface (BCI) is a communication system that takes recorded brain signals and translates them into real-time actions, in this case movement of a cursor on a computer screen. This work applied Fitts' law to the evaluation of performance on a target acquisition task during sensorimotor rhythm-based BCI training. Fitts' law, which has been used as a predictor of movement time in studies of human movement, was used here to determine the information transfer rate, which was based on target acquisition time and target difficulty. The information transfer rate was used to make comparisons between control modalities and subject groups on the same task. Data were analyzed from eight able-bodied and five motor disabled participants who wore an electrode cap that recorded and translated their electroencephalogram (EEG) signals into computer cursor movements. Direct comparisons were made between able-bodied and disabled subjects, and between EEG and joystick cursor control in able-bodied subjects. Fitts' law aptly described the relationship between movement time and index of difficulty for each task movement direction when evaluated separately and averaged together. This study showed that Fitts' law can be successfully applied to computer cursor movement controlled by neural signals.


PACS

87.85.Ng Biological signal processing

87.19.L- Neuroscience

87.19.R- Mechanical and electrical properties of tissues and organs

Subjects

Medical physics

Biological physics

Dates

Issue 5 (October 2009)

Received 26 January 2009, accepted for publication 28 July 2009

Published 21 August 2009



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