Brain machine interfaces to restore swallowing function

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26282165
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Rehabilitation science/Welfare engineering
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Hirata Masayuki 大阪大学, 国際医工情報センター, 寄附研究部門教授 (30372626)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 貴島 晴彦 大阪大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 講師 (10332743) ; 柳澤 琢史 大阪大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 助教 (90533802)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 医療・福祉 / ブレイン・マシン・インターフェース / 嚥下機能 / 頭蓋内脳波

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Dysphagia often causes aspiration pneumonitis that is a main cause of death in elderly people, but the neural process of swallowing has been hardly revealed. In the present study, we aimed to clarify the neural process of swallowing in order to develop BMIs for swallowing support.
Firstly, we developed a system that simultaneously measures intracranial EEGs and swallowing movements quantitatively. Then, we used this system in 4 patients with epilepsy who underwent the placement of subdural electrodes. In all patients, high gamma band activity was observed in the lateral sensorimotor area during swallowing and disappeared rapidly after the swallowing. It is feasible to develop BMIs supporting swallowing by detecting this high gamma band activity.

Free Research Field

BMI