[EEG-based communication--a new concept for rehabilitative support in patients with severe motor impairment]

This paper describes a paralyzed patient diagnosed with severe infantile cerebral palsy, trained over a period of several months to use an EEG-based brain-computer interface (BCI) for verbal communication. The patient learned to "produce" two distinct EEG patterns by mental imagery and to use this skill for BCI-controlled spelling. The EEG feedback training was conducted at a clinic for Assisted Communications, supervised from a distant laboratory with the help of a telemonitoring system. As a function of training sessions significant learning progress was found, resulting in an average accuracy level of 70% correct responses for letter selection. At present, "copy spelling" can be performed with a rate of approximately one letter per minute. The proposed communication device, the "Virtual Keyboard", may improve actual levels of communication ability in completely paralyzed patients. "Telemonitoring-assisted" training facilitates clinical application in a larger number of patients.