BIONIC ARM NEUROPROSTHETIC Jackson, Gurleen, Langston, Artina

Design Process What is a BCI? How does it work? What are the problems? What are the ethical issues? What can we add to make it better? The first thing we did was identify problems with prosthetic arms. During our research, we found many cases where the reaction time of a BCI arm was pretty slow. BCI stands for Brain Computer Interface. It works by an electrode being placed both in the users brain and in the prosthetic arm. The issue is that the time that the electrode in the arm gets the signal from the brain to move an arm is too slow.

Problems & Solutions Slow reaction time Slow receiving data No feedback Robot-looking design Improve electrode in Arm better reader, sends stronger signals Improve electrode in brain better reader that amplifies neural spikes Add sensors to hand Humanoid design Now that we addressed the issue, we came up with a solution. Our model of the prosthetic arm would have a better reader in it. The reader in the electrode is what processes the signal from the brain and tells the arm what to do. The process is what causes the reaction to be slow.

This is an existent prosthetic arm This is an existent prosthetic arm. It works just the same as how I explained earlier. Our group would fix or upgrade the electrode in the arm so it has a faster reaction time to the brain’s signals. For convenience of the user, we would also change the overall design so that the arm seems less artificial. Instead of short spurts of movement like a robot, the movement of the arm would have more fluid motion and would be seem less.

How it works? [ARDUINO]

Model

User Experience User Experience Phew Chart The arm would act as a literal replacement for a disabled person or amputee. It could possibly even boost their self esteem because the arm is realistic. User Experience Phew Chart Features Market Prosthetics Our Prosthetic Reaction 2 4 Feedback 3 Design 1 TOTAL 11 Reaction: How fast the prosthetic reacts to signals sent from the brain Feedback: What does the prosthetic send back to the electrode in the brain Source

Ethical Issues Data recorded from electrode (mind reading) Painful Surgery