Buenaventura IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology

The Conditioning of Neural Firing for a Reliable Brain Machine Interface
Steven Badelt

Wednesday, December 10, 2008 7 PM
CLU - Richter Hall, Ahmanson Science Building

Since 1973, bio-medical engineers have targeted brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) as a means of overcoming severe paralysis in patients by substituting machine function for disabled physical faculties. However, the 60-95\% accuracy of these BMIs limits their practical application. To fully rehabilitate patients, a BMI must enable unsupervised interaction in the physical world with 100\% accuracy.

We have developed and demonstrated a high-accuracy BMI by using a novel, unconstrained behavior task. This task calls for alternating periods of time during which it is either appropriate or inappropriate to respond. We first demonstrate that subjects (Rattus norvegicus) can be conditioned to consistently perform this task using levers, making zero errors over as many as seven sequential sessions (over 1700 trials). We then replace responding on one lever with the activation of a BMI neural switch based on intracortical recordings from single neurons. Subjects have controlled this BMI interface without making an error for over 32 minutes, approximately 200 trials. Our findings serve as a test-bed for the development of BMIs that enable reliable, real-world interaction.

Steven Badelt
Badelt Engineering

Stephen Badelt is the proprietor of Bedelt Engineering, where he has advised clients on parameters and target markets for implantable neuromodulation devices.  While pursuing his education, he also worked at St. Jude Medical CRMD as principle investigator for preclinical resesarch protocols for implantable devices.

Mr. Badelt is studying at UCLA, where he anticipates receiving his Ph.D. this year.  He received a M.S. in 2006 from UCLA; both in biomedial engineering.  He received a BS. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1996.

Mr. Badelt holds 10 US patents, and is the recipient of numerous fellowships and recognition awards.


Meeting Site: California Lutheran University Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center,
Second Floor, rooms 253/254, 130 Overton Court, Thousand Oaks, CA.
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