[Mental activity hand orthosis control using the EEG: a case study]

A report is given on the realization of a steering mechanism of a hand orthosis for a patient with paraplegia. An EEG-based Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) was used here for the first time, transferring purely mental activity to a control signal. This means that the patient has the capability to open or close the hand orthosis only by imagination of a movement. At this time, after a training period of about four months, the patient is able to move the hand orthosis with a certainty of almost hundred percent. The restored grasp function was verified by a grasp function test. Results are compared to those obtained using a conventional EMG-controlled orthosis.