Brain Computer Interface for Fatigue Assessment

Fatigue is a complex physiological state that involves tiredness, loss of focus and a decrease in mental processing ability. Severe physical and mental pressures are associated with job responsibilities in many professions. Since fatigue can affect a person's physical and mental well-being, it puts professionals such as firefighters, pilots and miners at risk; along with those whom they serve.;Often the decision that one is too fatigued or distressed to appropriately perform their job is left to the individuals themselves. Unfortunately, this subjective self-assessment can be inaccurately biased by the individual's unwillingness to admitting they are not up to the task. To ensure the safety of these workers and those they serve, there is a need for objective assessment methods to quantify mental status and fatigue. There are ways to test someone's focus, cognitive processing and reaction time; however such systems have their drawbacks. Current imaging, testing and monitoring technologies are bulky, expensive and often take time away from a person's work.;Brain computer interfacing (BCI) is a generic term for interaction with any technology using brainwaves or more specifically neurological feedback. Event related potentials (ERP) are averaged responses to a known array of stimuli that show up 100 to 600 milliseconds after a stimulus is perceived by an individual. The human interface with BCI is typically achieved through electrodes placed on the body (usually head and ear). Along with recent advances in technology associated with Electroencephalography (EEG) BCI has shown promise for the continuous monitoring of brain signals and for real time mental status assessments. A suitable wireless neurological feedback platform could be a viable way to assess critical factors associated with increased health and safety risks.;This work explores the utility and feasibility of a software platform utilizing BCI2000(c) and MatlabRTM with respect to fatigue assessment. The described system runs testing applications, acquires brainwave data, and allows for some signal processing and analysis of the results. This project also presents work done towards developing a prototype and suggested improvements to the data analysis methods. This work includes results from pilot studies conducted to assess the ability of an ERP based test to assess fatigue. Since ERPs can be generated with any kind of stimulus, audio, visual or tactile; audio and visual testing programs were compared. During the course of the research conducted user, subject and systemic needs were assessed.;Preliminary results were promising and indicated that ERPs can be used to measure changes in alertness and physical tiredness. Results also indicate that audio testing is preferable for real-world scenarios. BCI2000 (c) and MatlabRTM are suitable programs for such applications. However, MatlabRTM is an expensive and powerful platform that has capabilities beyond what is required for simple targeted applications. BCI2000(c) has the advantage of being open-source but not have the most efficient programs. Thus recommendations for simpler software platform or a customized version of BCI2000(c) have been made. Understanding and testing of applications, set-up and analysis methods is an important first step in the development of a custom, comprehensive EEG-based system for fatigue assessment.