Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital and Children’s Hospital Foundation pediatric patients with restricted communication and physical control are using an emerging and promising technology to support their independence to make art and play.
Brain computer interface (BCI) is a direct communication pathway between the brain’s electrical activity and an external device. Users control BCIs by thinking about specific things, which translate to a command. Through practice, the BCI learns the specific patterns of one’s brain to perform a task, such as controlling music or playing a game.
Maggie and Dario had just one hour’s notice that a birth mother had chosen them to adopt her newborn baby. Filled with excitement, they rushed to meet tiny Nina and welcome her into their family. It was only in the months ahead that they would learn their sweet baby girl had a brain malformation which prevents her from being able to walk, talk, sit or eat on her own.
Over the past nine years, a team of specialists at the Alberta Children’s Hospital has been helping Nina with her muscle tone, range of motion, pain management and communication. While Maggie and Dario have always known “Team Nina” is focused on helping their daughter live her best life, a new community-funded research program at the hospital has opened the door to opportunities they never dreamed possible for their little girl.
“BCI4Kids” uses brain computer interface technologies that recognize and “translate” changes in Nina’s thought patterns into computer-powered action. Wearing a special headset, Nina thinks certain words that signal the BCI to control computer devices like on/off switches or a computer mouse. For the first time in her life, Nina is able to use her brain to do things her body cannot. Maggie and Dario say it’s like BCI has given her virtual hands.
When Covid-19 hit, the team developed portable kits enabling children in the program to practice their skills and work their “BCI muscles” at home. Even though Nina only started using BCI late last fall, she can already play songs on her computer, beat her brother at video games, and since just before Christmas – move her wheelchair on her own!
“This is showing us just how strong Nina’s mind really is,” says Dario. “Both her older brother and I have tried BCI. It’s exhausting. She is way better at it than we are!”
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