An open-source implementation of a closed-loop electrocorticographic Brain-Computer Interface using Micromed, FieldTrip, and PsychoPy

TL;DR

This paper introduces an open-source, flexible, and customizable closed-loop ECoG-based BCI system that integrates existing tools and provides new Python libraries to facilitate research and application development.

Contribution

It presents three new Python libraries that streamline designing experiments, real-time signal processing, and event communication in a closed-loop ECoG BCI system.

Findings

Facilitates BCI research with open-source tools

Enhances customization and flexibility in BCI design

Reduces barriers for translating ECoG decoding into applications

Abstract

We present an open-source implementation of a closed-loop Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) system based on electrocorticographic (ECoG) recordings. Our setup integrates FieldTrip for interfacing with a Micromed acquisition system and PsychoPy for implementing experiments. We open-source three custom Python libraries (psychopylib, pymarkerlib, and pyfieldtriplib) each covering different aspects of a closed-loop BCI interface: designing interactive experiments, sending event information, and real-time signal processing. Our modules facilitate the design and operation of a transparent BCI system, promoting customization and flexibility in BCI research, and lowering the barrier for researchers to translate advances in ECoG decoding into BCI applications.