Electrocorticographic control of a prosthetic hand in paralyzed patients ecog control of a prosthetic hand

Abstract

Paralyzed patients would benefit from movement restoration afforded by electrocorticography (ECoG)–controlled prosthetics. However, it is unclear whether ECoG signals from chronically paralyzed patients provide sufficient motor information and, if they do, whether they can be used for prosthetic control. We recorded ECoG signals from sensorimotor cortices of 12 patients with various degrees of sensorimotor impairment executing or attempting to execute simple hand movements. Time-frequency and decoding analyses were performed with the patients’ ECoG signals. In all patients, the high gamma power of the ECoG signals during movements clearly responded to different movement types and could be used to successfully discriminate them. However, classification accuracies were significantly lower in severely impaired patients. Finally, some patients used the method to control a prosthetic arm in real time. ECoG signals appear useful for prosthetic arm control and may provide clinically feasible motor restoration for paralyzed patients.