EEG-based brain-computer interface enables real-time robotic hand control at individual finger level

Abstract Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) connect human thoughts to external devices, offering the potential to enhance life quality for individuals with motor impairments and general population. Noninvasive BCIs are accessible to a wide audience but currently face challenges, including unintuitive...

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Main Authors: Yidan Ding, Chalisa Udompanyawit, Yisha Zhang, Bin He
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-06-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61064-x
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author Yidan Ding
Chalisa Udompanyawit
Yisha Zhang
Bin He
author_facet Yidan Ding
Chalisa Udompanyawit
Yisha Zhang
Bin He
author_sort Yidan Ding
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) connect human thoughts to external devices, offering the potential to enhance life quality for individuals with motor impairments and general population. Noninvasive BCIs are accessible to a wide audience but currently face challenges, including unintuitive mappings and imprecise control. In this study, we present a real-time noninvasive robotic control system using movement execution (ME) and motor imagery (MI) of individual finger movements to drive robotic finger motions. The proposed system advances state-of-the-art electroencephalography (EEG)-BCI technology by decoding brain signals for intended finger movements into corresponding robotic motions. In a study involving 21 able-bodied experienced BCI users, we achieved real-time decoding accuracies of 80.56% for two-finger MI tasks and 60.61% for three-finger tasks. Brain signal decoding was facilitated using a deep neural network, with fine-tuning enhancing BCI performance. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of naturalistic noninvasive robotic hand control at the individuated finger level.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2041-1723
language English
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publisher Nature Portfolio
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series Nature Communications
spelling doaj-art-d2632a6f7e17469aaa78727b8caeba242025-08-20T04:01:40ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-06-0116112010.1038/s41467-025-61064-xEEG-based brain-computer interface enables real-time robotic hand control at individual finger levelYidan Ding0Chalisa Udompanyawit1Yisha Zhang2Bin He3Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon UniversityDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon UniversityDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon UniversityDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon UniversityAbstract Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) connect human thoughts to external devices, offering the potential to enhance life quality for individuals with motor impairments and general population. Noninvasive BCIs are accessible to a wide audience but currently face challenges, including unintuitive mappings and imprecise control. In this study, we present a real-time noninvasive robotic control system using movement execution (ME) and motor imagery (MI) of individual finger movements to drive robotic finger motions. The proposed system advances state-of-the-art electroencephalography (EEG)-BCI technology by decoding brain signals for intended finger movements into corresponding robotic motions. In a study involving 21 able-bodied experienced BCI users, we achieved real-time decoding accuracies of 80.56% for two-finger MI tasks and 60.61% for three-finger tasks. Brain signal decoding was facilitated using a deep neural network, with fine-tuning enhancing BCI performance. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of naturalistic noninvasive robotic hand control at the individuated finger level.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61064-x
spellingShingle Yidan Ding
Chalisa Udompanyawit
Yisha Zhang
Bin He
EEG-based brain-computer interface enables real-time robotic hand control at individual finger level
Nature Communications
title EEG-based brain-computer interface enables real-time robotic hand control at individual finger level
title_full EEG-based brain-computer interface enables real-time robotic hand control at individual finger level
title_fullStr EEG-based brain-computer interface enables real-time robotic hand control at individual finger level
title_full_unstemmed EEG-based brain-computer interface enables real-time robotic hand control at individual finger level
title_short EEG-based brain-computer interface enables real-time robotic hand control at individual finger level
title_sort eeg based brain computer interface enables real time robotic hand control at individual finger level
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61064-x
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AT chalisaudompanyawit eegbasedbraincomputerinterfaceenablesrealtimerobotichandcontrolatindividualfingerlevel
AT yishazhang eegbasedbraincomputerinterfaceenablesrealtimerobotichandcontrolatindividualfingerlevel
AT binhe eegbasedbraincomputerinterfaceenablesrealtimerobotichandcontrolatindividualfingerlevel