Trends in research participant categories and descriptions in abstracts from the International BCI Meeting series, 1999 to 2016

ABSTRACT

Much brain-computer interface (BCI) research is intended to benefit people with disabilities (PWD), though they are rarely included as study participants. When included, a range of clinical and non-clinical descriptions are used leading to difficulty interpreting and replicating results. We examined trends in inclusion and description of study participants with disabilities across six International BCI Meetings from 1999 to 2016. Meeting abstracts were analyzed by trained independent reviewers. Results suggested declines in participation by PWD across Meetings until the 2016 Meeting. Fifty-eight percent of abstracts identified PWD as end-users, though only twenty-two percent included participants with disabilities, suggesting evidence of a persistent translational gap. Increased diagnostic specificity was noted at the 2013 and 2016 Meetings. Studies often identified physical and/or communication impairments in participants with disabilities versus impairments in other areas. Implementing participatory action research principles and user-centered design strategies within BCI research is critical to bridge the translational gap.

KEYWORDS:

• Brain-Computer Interfaces
• rehabilitation
• disabled persons
• biomedical engineering
• biomedical technology

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge Michelle Kinsella, Aimee Mooney, and Steven Bedrick for their support and theoretical considerations to this study.

Disclosure statement

Jane Huggins is on the Board of Directors for the BCI Society and served as organizer for the 2013 and 2016 International BCI Meetings. She has a patent pending related to a BCI design.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, BE, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant number [R01DC009834]; the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research grant number [90RE5017]; and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the NIH under award number [UL1TR002240]. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.