A Low-Cost, Fully Programmable, Battery Powered Direct Cortical Electrical Stimulator¹

Brain electrical stimulation has been used to map eloquent brain areas in epilepsy surgery or to treat neurological and psychiatric conditions. More recently, cortical electrical stimulation has been explored as a means to restore sensation in those with spinal cord injury or stroke by activating areas of the sensory cortex [1]. This “artificial sensation” may be of particular interest in the field of brain–computer interfaces (BCIs). It can be envisioned that direct sensory feedback associated with the BCI motor outputs will enhance a user's overall ability to operate the BCI system. To date, most BCI research on artificial sensation has been in animals. Future studies will need to translate artificial sensation into humans, particularly since it is difficult to understand what animals perceive. However, existing cortical stimulators are not ideal for such studies as they are typically manually operated, bulky, and wall-socket powered. They also involve regulatory hurdles...