We won second place at Neurothlon!

The CBI team won second place at the “Neurothlon” International Competition of Assistive Technologies. Valentina Bulgakova, Nikolay Smetanin and Ignat Dubyshkin represented our team in Samara. Ksenia Volkova, Julia Nurislamova and Anastasia Belinskaya participated as algorithm developers. Moreover, this victory was possible thanks to our pilots Artiom Vorobiov and Sergei Anashkov.

The Second International Competition of Assistive Technologies “Neurotlon” was held in Samara, on October 13. The event was organized by the Neuronet Industrial Union whose missiong is to advance neuroscience and neurotechnology. During the competition, pilots with various vision, hearing or central nervous system disorders were performing different tasks using high-tech equipment.
The CBI team presented an implementation of a non-invasive motor imagery brain-machine interface (BMI). Specifically, the pilots controlled a computer by performing imaginary, not real, leg movements. The pilots, who participated in this discipline, had lumbar spine injuries and, as a result, paralyzed lower limbs. Recent studies have shown that ideomotor (based on imaginary movements) BMIs can be useful in the rehabilitation of patients with various motor disorders.
The EEG decoding algorithm developed by our team turned out to be superior to those of the competing teams and was awarded second place. In addition to testing the analysis algorithm, we also verified the effectiveness of the BMI’s technical implementation. The results obtained will be used in further research, including for an invasive interface currently being developed.

The research is coducted on the Russian ministry of Education and Science Government grant ag. No 14.641.31.0003, Megagrant to Mikhail Lebedev