Biomanufacturing

The Biomanufacturing project targets the processing and exploitation of human bio-signals to control orthotic devices, a sub-class of articulated prostheses. The main goal of this project is to develop a neural interface and a system to exploit measured brain activity. Extracting representative information from EEG (electroencephalogram) and EMG (electromyogram) signals and processing these data through an artifi cial neural network will enable pattern matching to activate orthotic devices.

Orthotic devices are prostheses designed to compensate for absent articular or muscular functions. Performing this body assistance requires intelligent guidance, which is a major challenge in the field of humanmachine interfaces. The Biomanufacturing project aims to develop intuitive control for orthotic devices by means of the state-of-the-art processing of EEG and EMG bio-signals, which measure brain and muscle activity respectively.

This multidisciplinary project is being carried out by several research teams working together to develop a functional orthotic prototype. The bio-signals must be processed in order to extract useful information related to the control of the orthotic devices using a Dynamic Recurrent Neural Network (DRNN), following encephalographic signal sampling and processing. The DRNN is a critical part of the decision-making process, as its output governs the design of control signals and the manufacturing of orthotic devices that can incorporate the associated actuators and regulation systems.

In this project, CETIC’s Embedded and Communication Systems department is in charge of the design of the overall system architecture, and of the technical integration of system components. During 2010, CETIC established design specifications for the wireless communication systems of the EEG signals and the integration of DRNNs into embedded systems.

In 2011, CETIC will participate in the design of a functional prototype of the Biomanufacturing platform, through the implementation of the EEG signal processing system and wireless transmission system.