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This work addresses the employment of Machine Learning (ML) and Domain Adaptation (DA) in the framework of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) based on Steady-State Visually Evoked Potentials (SSVEPs). Currently, all the state-of-the-art classification strategies do not consider the high non-stationarity typical of brain signals. This can lead to poor performance, expecially when short-time signals have to be considered to allow real-time human-environment interaction. In this regard, ML and DA techniques can represent a suitable strategy to enhance the performance of SSVEPs classification pipelines. In particular, the employment of a two-step DA technique is proposed: first, the standardization of the data per subject is performed by exploiting a part of unlabeled test data during the training stage; second, a similarity measure between subjects is considered in the selection of the validation sets. The proposal was applied to three classifiers to verify the statistical significance of the improvements over the standard approaches. These classifiers were validated and comparatively tested on a well-known public benchmark dataset. An appropriate validation method was used in order to simulate real-world usage. The experimental results show that the proposed approach significantly improves the classification accuracy of SSVEPs. In fact, up to 62.27 % accuracy was achieved also in the case of short-time signals (i.e., 1.0 s). This represents a further confirmation of the suitability of advanced ML to improve the performance of BCIs for daily-life applications.

An innovative algorithm to automatically assess blood perfusion quality of the intestinal sector in laparoscopic colorectal surgery is proposed. Traditionally, the uniformity of the brightness in indocyanine green-based fluorescence consists only in a qualitative, empirical evaluation, which heavily relies on the surgeon’s subjective assessment. As such, this leads to assessments that are strongly experience-dependent. To overcome this limitation, the proposed algorithm assesses the level and uniformity of indocyanine green used during laparoscopic surgery. The algorithm adopts a Feed Forward Neural Network receiving as input a feature vector based on the histogram of the green band of the input image. It is used to (i) acquire information related to perfusion during laparoscopic colorectal surgery, and (ii) support the surgeon in assessing objectively the outcome of the procedure. In particular, the algorithm provides an output that classifies the perfusion as adequate or inadequate. The algorithm was validated on videos captured during surgical procedures carried out at the University Hospital Federico II in Naples, Italy. The obtained results show a classification accuracy equal to $$99.9\%$$ 99.9 % , with a repeatability of $$1.9\%$$ 1.9 % . Finally, the real-time operation of the proposed algorithm was tested by analyzing the video streaming captured directly from an endoscope available in the OR.

An instrument for remote control of the robot by wearable brain–computer interface (BCI) is proposed for rehabilitating children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Augmented reality (AR) glasses generate flickering stimuli, and a single-channel electroencephalographic BCI detects the elicited steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs). This allows benefiting from the SSVEP robustness by leaving available the view of robot movements. Together with the lack of training, a single channel maximizes the device’s wearability, fundamental for the acceptance by ADHD children. Effectively controlling the movements of a robot through a new channel enhances rehabilitation engagement and effectiveness. A case study at an accredited rehabilitation center on ten healthy adult subjects highlighted an average accuracy higher than 83%, with information transfer rate (ITR) up to 39 b/min. Preliminary further tests on four ADHD patients between six- and eight-years old provided highly positive feedback on device acceptance and attentional performance.

This work addresses the design, development and implementation of a 4.0-based wearable soft transducer for patient-centered vitals telemonitoring. In particular, first, the soft transducer measures hypertension-related vitals (heart rate, oxygen saturation and systolic/diastolic pressure) and sends the data to a remote database (which can be easily consulted both by the patient and the physician). In addition to this, a dedicated deep learning algorithm, based on a Long-Short-Term-Memory Autoencoder, was designed, implemented and tested for providing an alert when the patient’s vitals exceed certain thresholds, which are automatically personalized for the specific patient. Furthermore, a mobile application (EcO2u) was developed to manage the entire data flow and facilitate the data fruition; this application also implements an innovative face-detection algorithm that ensures the identity of the patient. The robustness of the proposed soft transducer was validated experimentally on five individuals, who used the system for 30 days. The experimental results demonstrated an accuracy in anomaly detection greater than 93%, with a true positive rate of more than 94%.

A highly-wearable single-channel Brain- Computer Interface (BCI) based on Steady-State Visually Evoked Potentials (SSVEPs) and Augmented Really (AR) is proposed. The SSVEP elicitation is provided by three AR head-mounted displays (HMD), namely Epson Moverio BT-350, Oculus Rift S, and Microsoft HoloLens. Four flickering stimuli, ranging from 8 Hz to 15 Hz, are used. The goal of the work is to carry out a performance comparison of the three aforementioned devices, in terms of stimuli visualization and SSVEPs detection. To this aim, classification accuracy and time response were assessed involving nine healthy volunteers during the experimental activity. The obtained results demonstrate that choosing an adequate HMD to render the flickering stimuli is decisive for obtaining adequate performances.