This Toronto girl can use her thoughts to move her wheelchair. Here's how
While it sounds like something out of an X-Men movie, young patients at Toronto’s Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital can really move objects with their own thoughts.
The hospital has been researching Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology and is the first pediatric hospital worldwide to use it in a clinical setting.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
The technology allows 8-year-old Giselle Alnaser to move her Power Chair Trainer, which she demonstrated to CTV News Toronto. It starts by teaching the software how Alnaser’s brain works with sensors on a headset detecting her brain activity pattern while at rest.
It registers a different pattern when Alnaser thinks more actively; her mom typically cheers her on as she does.
Dots on a computer screen show the difference between a resting state, indicated with a red dot, and her desire for movement indicated with a green dot.
The headset is connected to a platform, where her wheelchair is mounted, and which moves forward when she commands it.
“It’s really going to give kids the opportunity to experience the joy of movement,” occupational therapist Susannah Van Damme said.
Samah Darwish says her daughter was thrilled with the technology when she first tried it three years ago.
“She loved it. She was surprised how she really activated something by herself without needing to ask anyone to help her with it.”
On this particular day, Alnaser is able to navigate her way through a colourful tunnel. On other days, her headset is connected to a bubble-making machine that spurts soap bubbles when triggered by her brain commands.
While she has one command right now, her therapists hope Alnaser can soon develop a different pattern of brain waves to create a second way to command devices.
For now, the technology is only used recreationally. It can’t be used to navigate around a school, for example. But it can offer kids who are often isolated a chance to play interactively in small groups at the rehab centre.
Naser Alnaser, Giselle’s father, says it offers a glimpse of what the future might hold.
“It’s really emotional to start with” he says, “and yeah, it’s like seeing a glimpse of hope”.
This March, the BCI program is being highlighted during “Capes for Kids” week. Holland Bloorview’s annual fundraising campaign hopes to raise a million dollars for programs like BCI, summer camps, music therapy and more.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus survives vote calling for his ouster
Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.
'It was hell': Israeli mother held hostage with her children describes 51 days in captivity
Hagar Brodutch, her three children and four-year-old neighbour were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants from their home in Kfar Aza, Israel on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days. They were released in November, but Brodutch says her thoughts are never far from those still being held in Gaza.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
BREAKING Teen dies after being hit by train in N.W. Calgary
A teenager has died after being hit by a train in northwest Calgary on Tuesday afternoon.
Black bear kebabs make family sick with parasitic worms
It was supposed to be a celebration, but one family’s unique meal of black bear meat sent several members to the hospital instead.
'It's his vacation too': Jimmy the baby goat joins 2-week road trip across Canada
After Jimmy the baby goat was shunned by his mother, a New Brunswick man took the kid on a two-week road trip across Canada.
The double-level airplane seat is back. This time, there’s a first-class version
It’s the airplane seat design that launched a thousand memes and kickstarted a media storm. And now the double-level seat is back – only this time, with a twist.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.