Multivariate EEG Signal Processing Techniques for the Aid of Severely Disabled People

Abstract

Electroencephalography (EEG) has been used for several years as a trace of signals for facilitating subjects with serious infirmities to communicate with computers and other devices. Many studies have revealed the correlation of mental tasks with the EEG signals for actual or fictional movements. However, the performance of Brain Computer Interface (BCI) using EEG signal is still below enough to assist any disabled people. One reason could be that the researchers in this field (motor imagery based BCI) normally use two to three channels of EEG signal. This might limit the performance of BCI, as an extra source of information generally helps in detecting a person's motor movement intentions. Therefore, the proposed research work is involved with three or more channels of EEG signal for online BCI. Two fundamental objectives for BCI based on motor movement imagery from multichannel signals are aimed at in this research work: i) to develop a technique of multivariate feature extraction for motor imagery related to multichannel EEG signals; and ii) to develop an appropriate machine learning based feature classification algorithm for Brain Computer Interface. Nevertheless, all other problems like interfacing and real-time operations with current BCIs are also addressed and attempts are made to reduce the problems. The methodology can be described by following steps as follows: i) at least 3 channels of EEG signal are recorded; ii) a few features are extracted from preprocessed EEG signal; iii) all extracted features are classified to generate commands for BCI; iv) finally evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm for BCI. The challenge of this research work is to investigate and find an appropriate model for online (real-time) BCI with a realistic performance to be made in achieving better lives for people with severe disabilities in Malaysia and abroad.