Steinbrenner Scholar Brings Lived Experience to Brain-Computer Interface Research
After years of participating in brain-computer interface studies, Steinbrenner Scholar German Aldana Zuniga joined researchers at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis to help identify the priorities, concerns and everyday needs that should shape future neurotechnology.
Key Takeaways
Research participant to researcher: German Aldana Zuniga spent the summer helping guide brain-computer interface research as a Steinbrenner Scholar.
Patient-informed design: The research team is incorporating the perspectives of people with spinal cord injuries at the earliest stages of study development.
Looking ahead: A nationwide survey will help researchers identify priorities, concerns and practical needs that could shape future neurotechnology.
German Aldana Zuniga never thought he would be able to work in research.
When he was just 16, he suffered a spinal cord injury that resulted in tetraplegia after a car accident and was told he’d never be able to walk or use his arms properly.
Now, after years of participating in research studies and building knowledge through college coursework, German has made the leap from research participant to research scientist. This summer, he spent 10 weeks as a Henry G. Steinbrenner scholar at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, a center of excellence at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
The Henry G. Steinbrenner Scholars Program is a prestigious, 10-week summer internship focused on topics in neurotrauma. Steinbrenner Scholars undergo didactic and practical training from experts at The Miami Project, including active participation in Miami Project research.
From Research Participant to Partner in Brain-Computer Interface Research
Working alongside a team he had come to know through his own participation in research, German helped advance the next generation of brain-computer interfaces for people with spinal cord injury. But this time, his role was different. He wasn’t a patient or clinical trial participant. He was part of the research team.
His assignment placed him in familiar territory, brain-computer interface (BCI) research, and gave him a new perspective. He learned how labs operate, how research teams work together and what it takes to move a project forward. He also cemented his goal of completing his studies at Miami Dade College, where he is majoring in computer science, and pursuing a career in the BCI field.
“With this program, I also learned how to come to a job and work, and I see now that I’m actually able to work,” German said. “When you’re a quadriplegic, you are worried about whether you can actually work a job, and I reaffirmed that yes, I can do this!”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a brain-computer interface?
A brain-computer interface records brain activity and uses a decoder to translate selected signals into commands that can control a device or assistive technology.
What did German contribute to the research?
He helped the research team develop a survey about awareness of BCI technology, desired functions, attitudes toward implanted devices and barriers that could affect adoption.
What happens next?
The survey has been designed. The team is working through regulatory approvals before distributing it to people with spinal cord injuries nationwide.
Shaping Brain-Computer Interface Research
German first came to The Miami Project to become involved in clinical trials. His interest in brain-computer interfaces led him to participate in research using noninvasive BCI technology and, in November 2018, receive an implanted BCI. The surgery, part of an FDA-approved clinical trial, was performed by Jonathan Jagid, M.D., a Miller School professor of clinical neurological surgery, and in collaboration with Abhishek Prasad, Ph.D., a University of Miami associate professor of biomedical engineering.
The implanted BCI captures brain signals associated with movements he is thinking about making, such as opening or grasping with his hand. Researchers use a decoder to interpret those signals, which can then be used to control assistive technologies, including adaptive gloves that allow him to grasp objects. The years of experience working with the lab to develop and hone these devices made him uniquely suited for his next role.
As a Steinbrenner Scholar, German joined the lab of Matija Milosevic, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurological surgery at the Miller School and director of neuromotor rehabilitation at The Miami Project. The lab focuses on BCI and neuromodulation technologies aimed at restoring motor function. Instead of simply testing technology researchers had already designed, German spent his summer helping them determine what they should study in the first place.
“He’s a pioneer,” Dr. Milosevic said. “His own, individual perspectives in helping us develop the next research questions are extremely important.”
The lab is incorporating the lived experience of people with spinal cord injuries into research from the earliest stages. German brings the unusual combination of personal experience with spinal cord injury, years of experience using BCI technologies and a growing understanding of research itself.
“He provides important directions on what research we need to focus on,” Dr. Milosevic said. “What are the priorities for people with spinal cord injuries who are looking for solutions?”
What People With Spinal Cord Injuries Want From BCI Technology
Gernan’s primary project during the summer was helping the team develop a survey for people with spinal cord injuries. The researchers want to understand how much people know about BCI technology, how interested they are in using it and the functions they would most want the technology to restore. The survey also explores attitudes toward implanted devices and surgery, potential barriers to adoption or concerns about the technology and what would make the technology genuinely useful in everyday life.
This last question is particularly important. Researchers can build an extraordinarily sophisticated device in a lab, Dr. Milosevic said, but if it requires several engineers to set it up or is too complicated to use outside the lab, it doesn’t do much for users at home. German helped them think about the difference between what is scientifically impressive and what is actually useful.
Would someone undergo elective brain surgery for a device that allows them to turn lights on and off? Would the calculation change if it allowed them to eat, pick up the phone and grasp a water bottle?
German also helped researchers consider functions that may receive less attention in conventional BCI research. While much of the field has concentrated on restoring motor function and communication, German has raised other priorities, including bowel and bladder function, for example.
What Comes Next for the Survey?
Dr. Milosevic is intent on involving people with spinal cord injuries during the design stage rather than simply recruiting them after a technology or study has been developed. He hopes this will help identify the missing questions, unrealistic assumptions and priorities researchers might inadvertently overlook.
“We need to, from the design, involve the stakeholders and give them a seat at the table,” he said. “It’s extremely important that we are really prioritizing what we’re working on, that we’re not spending effort and time to develop something that’s not really useful.”
The survey has been designed and the team is working through regulatory approvals before distributing it to people with spinal cord injuries nationwide.
For Dr. Milosevic, German’s contribution goes beyond representing his own experience.
“German is not only a pioneer in implanted BCI, but he’s also a pioneer in utilizing some of these technologies firsthand,” Dr. Milosevic said. “He has an understanding of what are the needs and wants, the limitations and potential advantages of some of these technologies.”
Through the survey, Dr. Milosevic added, German is helping researchers capture perspectives from a much larger community.
Now that he has been on the other side of the table, developing research questions and considering how an idea might actually become something people will use, German sees a role for himself and others like him in moving the field forward.
“We have our perspectives,” he said. “We know what would work for us better, so we can help out with it.”
From a focus on his own recovery using brain-computer interfaces which help establish an interest in research, 10 weeks as a Steinbrenner Scholar offered an opportunity to guide what might come next for the future of neurotechnology.
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Tags: brain-computer interface, Department of Neurological Surgery, Dr. Abhishek Prasad, Dr. Jonathan Jagid, Dr. Matija Milosevic, neurological surgery, neuromodulation, neurosurgery, SCI, spinal cord injuries, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis