Applications of BCI

Many of the examples of its applications are not achieved but expected to be achieved in the near future.
Most of the applications of BCI is clinically disable people as i mention them before like Locked in syndrome, tetraplegia , spelling problem.I will discuss some of the diseases which can be handled by BCI.

Locked in Syndrome :
Locked-in Syndrome (LIS) results from a lesion to the brain stem, most frequently an ischemic pontine lesion. It leads to particularly severe impairments resulting from the complete disruption of the motor pathways controlling eyes, face, trunk and limbs movements, as well as breathing, swallowing and phonation. Consciousness and cortical functions are preserved. Care and rehabilitation of the affected individuals, described as being "locked in", present great challenges. Access to communication is the main goal of treatment. Considering the current life expectancy of persons with locked-in syndrome, the top priority for the rehabilitation team is to help them reach the highest standards of quality of life possible.Lockedin syndrome


Tetraplegia :
Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is paralysis caused by illness or injury to a human that results in the partial or total loss of use of all their limbs and torso; paraplegia is similar but does not affect the arms. The loss is usually sensory and motor, which means that both sensation and control are lost. Tetraparesis or quadriparesis, on the other hand, means muscle weakness affecting all four limbs. It may be flaccid or spastic.

Tetraplegia is caused by damage to the brain or the spinal cord at a high level C1–C7—in particular, spinal cord injuries secondary to an injury to the cervical spine. The injury, which is known as a lesion, causes victims to lose partial or total function of all four limbs, meaning the arms and the legs. Tetraplegia is defined in many ways; C1–C4 usually affects arm movement more so than a C5–C7 injury; however, all tetraplegics have or have had some kind of finger dysfunction. So, it is not uncommon to have a tetraplegic with fully functional arms but no nervous control of their fingers and thumbs.

Typical causes of this damage are trauma (such as a traffic collision, diving into shallow water, a fall, a sports injury), disease (such as transverse myelitis, multiple sclerosis, or polio), or congenital disorders (such as muscular dystrophy).

It is possible to suffer a broken neck without becoming tetraplegic if the vertebrae are fractured or dislocated but the spinal cord is not damaged. Conversely, it is possible to injure the spinal cord without breaking the spine, for example when a ruptured disc or bone spur on the vertebra protrudes into the spinal column.

Alzheimer's Disease:

 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients in the most advanced stages, who have lost the ability to communicate verbally, could benefit from a BCI that may allow them to convey basic thoughts (e.g., "yes" and "no") and emotions. There is currently no report of such research, mostly because the cognitive deficits in AD patients pose serious limitations to the use of traditional BCIs, which are normally based on instrumental learning and require users to self-regulate their brain activation. Recent studies suggest that not only self-regulated brain signals, but also involuntary signals, for instance related to emotional states, may provide useful information about the user, opening up the path for so-called "affective BCIs". These interfaces do not necessarily require users to actively perform a cognitive task, and may therefore be used with patients who are cognitively challenged. In the present hypothesis paper, we propose a paradigm shift from instrumental learning to classical conditioning, with the aim of discriminating "yes" and "no" thoughts after associating them to positive and negative emotional stimuli respectively. This would represent a first step in the development of a BCI that could be used by AD patients, lending a new direction not only for communication, but also for rehabilitation and diagnosis.