BCI2000

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What is BCI2000?

A Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) provides a new communication channel between the brain and the computer. Mental activity leads to changes of electrophysiological signals like the electroencephalogram (EEG) or the electrocorticogram (ECoG). The BCI system detects such changes and transforms them into control signals that can, for example, be used to spell words or to control a cursor on a computer screen. One of the main goals of BCI devices is to enable completely paralyzed patients (locked-in syndrome) to communicate with their environment.

BCI2000 is a general-purpose system for BCI research and development. It can also be used for data acquisition, stimulus presentation, or brain observation applications. BCI2000 has been in development since 2000 in a collaborative effort led by the Wadsworth Center, Albany, New York, USA. BCI2000 has been used to replicate or extend current BCI methods in humans, and has recently been used in a number of groundbreaking BCI studies. BCI2000 is available free of charge for research purposes to academic and educational institutions (see www.bci2000org. for further information). g.tec is offering complete certified BCI2000 systems with optimally configured components.

Highlights

g.tec offers a system that is certified for BCI2000 and it contains all necessary components to have a fast start
can be used to run BCI experiments with P300 and motor imagery
the g.tec amplifiers are seamlessly integrated into BCI2000
offers several signal processing methods and allows to interface the system with a number of different output devices
satisfies the real-time requirements of BCI systems
facilitates the implementation of different BCI systems
is available with full documentation and free of charge for research or educational purposes
is currently being used in a variety of studies by more than 300 research groups

BCI2000 consists of a Signal Acquisition module that acquires brain signals from g.USBamp or g.MOBIlab+ (NEW!) devices. These raw signals are visualized and stored to disk, and submitted to the Signal Processing module. The Signal Processing module extracts signal features and translates them into device commands. These commands are used by the Applications module to generate action.

BCI2000 brain-computer interface research software - overview

picture courtesy of Gerwin Schalk, Wadsworth Center, NY

Using BCI2000 with g.USBamp

The highend biosignal amplifier g.USBamp with 16 EEG channels is integrated into the BCI2000 system. The amplifier sends the data of all 16 channels over a USB cable to the notebook. In the application shown in this picture, BCI2000 collects data simultaneously from two amplifiers. The picture shows a standard configuration with an EEG cap, a connector cable, one screen for presentation of the experimental paradigm and a notebook for the real-time analysis and raw EEG data visualization. In this example, the equipment is used to control a cursor on the screen.

Using BCI2000 with g.MOBIlab+

The portable device g.MOBIlab+ supports 8 EEG channels and sends the data via a serial cable or via Bluetooth to the computer system. The wireless transmission allows the subject to move freely in a range of about 30 meters. This enables the easy usage of the system over 36 hours with one battery set. BCI2000 allows to select the channels that should be recorded at 256 Hz. The whole system easily fits into a notebook bag for travelling to different measurement sites.

Sites of Laboratories using BCI2000

(more than 300 users; early 2009)

BCI2000 is used for many years in different research labs around the world and many scientific publications are based on the technology.

Example 1: The P300 speller

BCI2000 comes with a P300 experiment that allows the selection of letters and other characters per thought. In this experiment, the subject focuses on the character he/she wants to write. When the desired character is flashing the brain produces a response that is different to those produces by undesired characters. BCI2000 detects this different response and uses it to determine the desired character.

The P300 speller is currently the most effective way for communication and can be used to write also emails and Word documents.

Example 2: Cursor Control

BCI2000 also supports one-, two- and three-dimensional cursor control experiment. This BCI system is based on motor imagery of foot and hand regions. At first training data are acquired. Subsequently the system adapts to the brain states of the specific user. In the next step the user can already move the cursor on the computer screen.

Complete certified BCI2000 system

g.tec offers a complete certified BCI2000 system including the BCI2000 software, a notebook computer or PC, g.USBamp or g.MOBILab amplifiers and necessary EEG caps and electrodes to our customers. The advantage is that the package is supported according to the BCI2000 standards and are ready to use. All the compatibility issues, cables, connectors,... are addressed and therefore a quick start with the system is guaranteed. Contact us for a detailed system description.

References

Schalk, G., McFarland, D.J., Hinterberger, T., Birbaumer, N., Wolpaw, J.R. BCI2000: A General-Purpose Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) System. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 51(6):1034-1043, 2004.

Mellinger, J., and Schalk, G. BCI2000: A General-Purpose Software Platform for BCI Research. In: Brain-Computer Interfaces. MIT Press, NIPS Workshop Series. 2007.

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