AI-enabled Brain-Computer Interfaces for Awareness Assessment after Brain Injury and Assistive Technology, Rehabilitation and Entertainment Applications of Neurotechnology

Prolonged disorders of consciousness (PDoC) present a major challenge for assessment and communication due to patients’ severely limited ability to interact with their environment. Motor imagery brain–computer interfaces (MI-BCIs) provide a promising means of detecting residual awareness by enabling modulation of sensorimotor oscillations through imagined movement.

This presentation will share findings from a structured multi-phase MI-BCI study involving patients with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS), minimally conscious state (MCS), and locked-in syndrome (LIS). Across repeated training sessions, patients demonstrated the capacity to modulate sensorimotor rhythms and to respond to closed questions, with extended feedback and practice revealing clearer differentiation of cognitive abilities. These results highlight MI-BCI’s potential as a movement-independent, EEG-based approach to augment diagnostic assessment and deepen understanding of covert cognition.

Building on this diagnostic foundation, the talk will also present advances in continuous motion trajectory decoding (MTD) BCIs, which translate imagined limb movements into smooth, real-time control signals. Using embodied spatial feedback delivered through immersive virtual reality (VR), participants achieved improved decoding accuracy, greater learning stability, and enhanced cortical network organisation compared with conventional 2D feedback. These findings underscore the value of spatially aligned, embodied feedback as a mechanism for intuitive, naturalistic BCI control and next-generation neurorehabilitation.

The presentation will conclude by introducing AI-enabled wearable neurotechnology platforms developed by NeuroCONCISE Ltd that support large-scale data collection and user training, offering a scalable route from laboratory research to real-world clinical and rehabilitative impact.