1998 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Development of communication-aid device for the disabled with the use of visual evoked potentials
| Project/Area Number |
08671607
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Cerebral neurosurgery
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| Research Institution | Wakayama Medical College |
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Principal Investigator |
NAKAI Kunio Wakayama Medical College, Neurological Surgery, Associate Professor, 医学部, 助教授 (20180234)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
ITAKURA Toru Wakayama Medical College, Neurological Surgery, Professor, 医学部, 教授 (40100995)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1996 – 1998
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| Keywords | visual evoked potential / disabled patient with loss of voice / binary m-sequence / subcutaneously embeded epidural electrode |
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| Research Abstract |
Patients with certain disease such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or infarctions of the brain stem sometimes lose their voice associated with severe impairment of limb movements so that they completely lose methods to communicate others even if they are clear in consciousness and alert in mental activity. Aim of this study is to develop and improve the talking-aid device with relatively low cost using personal computer. This device, originally developed by Dr. E.E.Sutter in Smith-Kettlewel Institute in San Franscisco, calculate one of the 2^n matrices that the subject is gazing within the monitor in front of him/her. The main portion of this device consists of a processing boards in PowerMacintosh that handles signals of visual evoked potentioals with pseudo-random binary m-sequence cycle.
During this research period, from 1996 and 1998, I have concentrated to the improvement of the device for the actual use in the Japanese patients. First, I developed a software to write both letters and pictures more easily accosring to the patient's needs in daily life. Next, I modified the numbers of matrices down to 16(2^4) from 64(2^5) for more accurate calculation. Latter half of this research period was devoted to the improvement of the recording electrode system for the visual evoked potential, including the transcutaneous energy transmitting system using infra-red light or litium battery system. The experiments for the ideal electrode system with the good signal to noise ratio as well as enough long term stabilization underneath the skin are still underway.
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