Practical real-time MEG-based neural interfacing with optically pumped magnetometers

Wittevrongel, Benjamin; Holmes, Niall; Boto, Elena; Hill, Ryan; Rea, Molly; Libert, Arno; Khachatryan, Elvira; Van Hulle, Marc M.; Bowtell, Richard; Brookes, Matthew J.

Abstract

Background: Brain-computer interfaces decode intentions directly from the human brain with the aim to restore lost functionality, control external devices or augment daily experiences. To combine optimal performance with wide applicability, high-quality brain signals should be captured non-invasively. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a potent candidate but currently requires costly and confining recording hardware. The recently developed optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) promise to overcome this limitation, but are currently untested in the context of neural interfacing. Results: In this work, we show that OPM-MEG allows robust single-trial analysis which we exploited in a real-time ‘mind-spelling’ application yielding an average accuracy of 97.7%. Conclusions: This shows that OPM-MEG can be used to exploit neuro-magnetic brain responses in a practical and flexible manner, and opens up new avenues for a wide range of new neural interface applications in the future.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 25, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Aug 10, 2021
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Sep 23, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 23, 2021
• Journal: BMC Biology
• Electronic ISSN: 1741-7007
• Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 158
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-021-01073-6
• Keywords: Cell Biology; Developmental Biology; Plant Science; General Agricultural and Biological Sciences; General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; Physiology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Structural Biology; Biotechnology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/6296601
• Publisher URL: https://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12915-021-01073-6
• Additional Information: Received: 29 October 2020; Accepted: 25 April 2021; First Online: 10 August 2021; : ; : All experiments were approved by the University of Nottingham Medical School Ethics Committee. All participants provided written informed consent for all experiments.; : The authors affirm that the human research participant provided informed consent for publication of the image in Fig. InternalRef removedc; : E.B. and M.J.B. are directors of Cerca Magnetics, a newly established spin-out company whose aim is to commercialise aspects of OPM-MEG technology. The other authors declare that they have no competing interests.