ABSTRACT

With the ability of establishing communication pathways between a brain and external devices, brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) have been considered as a revolutionary way of treating or compensating for neurological dysfunction (Donoghue, 2008; Hatsopoulos and Donoghue, 2009; Lebedev and Nicolelis, 2006; Nicolelis and Lebedev, 2009; Wolpaw et al., 2002). The field of BMIs has grown at a tremendous rate since 1990, thanks to the progress made in neuromics and its interaction with some other disciplines, including computer science, material science, medical science, and electronic engineering. More and more types of BMIs became available, along with the development of systems that are driven by motor-cortex activities or cognitive processes. The attraction of BMIs for researchers with different backgrounds has been continuing for over two decades, according to the rapidly increased production of the related resources and literature in the interdisciplinary fields of biomedical engineering and neuroengineering.