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Managing Communication for People with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: The Role of the Brain-Computer Interface

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Rare Diseases in the Age of Health 2.0

Part of the book series: Communications in Medical and Care Compunetics ((CMCC,volume 4))

Abstract

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative neurological condition categorized as an orphan disease and at present the primary treatment is managing symptoms. It leads to severe paralysis, resulting in the need for the patient to use assistive technologies to support them in their daily activities. When the condition is severe, mainstream technologies may no longer offer the support required, due to the need for reliable residual movement. Brain computer interfaces (BCI) have the potential to become a powerful assistive technology for some individuals with the most severe of neuromuscular disorders. With only ‘thought’ as an input medium the user could harness control and communication. Undoubtedly, the availability of such technology could have a major positive impact on the life of a patient with ALS, supporting their inclusion in the world and contact with people around them. However, despite decades of research and development, BCIs are still not commonplace. Many recent advances have been made but some factors still prevent widespread deployment of BCI. This chapter will introduce the background of BCI and provide a short discussion about the problems associated with BCI technology, balanced with thoughts about its potential, challenges and hopes for the future.

Leave no stone unturned

EURIPIDES, Heraclidae

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Notes

  1. 1.

    BCIs can also use other physiological properties such as blood flow (Andersson et al. 2010), but these are less common and not considered in this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computing and Mathematics, University of Ulster, Jordanstown campus, Shore Road, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, Antrim, BT37 0QB, UK

    Gaye Lightbody

  2. Visiting Scholar, Cognitive Science Dept, UC San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    Brendan Allison

  3. Computer Science Research Institute, School of Computing and Mathematics, University of Ulster, Jordanstown campus, Shore Road, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, Antrim, BT37 0QB, UK

    Paul McCullagh

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  1. Gaye Lightbody
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Correspondence to Gaye Lightbody .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Health Design and Technology Institute, Coventry University, Coventry, United Kingdom

    Rajeev K. Bali

  2. International Council on Medical & Care Compunetics (ICMCC), Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Lodewijk Bos

  3. Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Michael Christopher Gibbons

  4. iBellieve Foundation, Toronto, Canada

    Simon Ibell

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Lightbody, G., Allison, B., McCullagh, P. (2014). Managing Communication for People with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: The Role of the Brain-Computer Interface. In: Bali, R., Bos, L., Gibbons, M., Ibell, S. (eds) Rare Diseases in the Age of Health 2.0. Communications in Medical and Care Compunetics, vol 4. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38643-5_23

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