Schicktanz Silke, Amelung Till, Rieger Jochem W
Department of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, University Medical Center Göttingen Göttingen, Germany.
Department of Psychology, University of Oldenburg, Germany ; Research Center Neurosensory Science, University of Oldenburg Oldenburg, Germany.
Front Syst Neurosci. 2015 Apr 27;9:64. doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2015.00064. eCollection 2015.
Brain-computer-interfaces (BCIs) are important for the next generation of neuro-prosthesis innovations. Only few pilot projects have tested patients' abilities to control BCIs as well as their satisfaction with the offered technologies. On the one hand, little is known about patients' moral attitudes toward the benefit-risk-ratio of BCIs as well as their needs, priorities, and expectations. On the other hand, ethics experts intensively discuss the general risks of BCIs as well as the limits of neuro-enhancement. To our knowledge, we present here the first qualitative interview study with ten chronic patients matching the potential user categories for motor and communication BCIs to assess their practical and moral attitudes toward this technology. The interviews reveal practical and moral attitudes toward motor BCIs that can impact future technology development. We discuss our empirical findings on patients' perspectives and compare them to neuroscientists' and ethicists' perspectives. Our analysis indicates only partial overlap between the potential users' and the experts' assessments of BCI-technology. It points out the importance of considering the needs and desires of the targeted patient group. Based on our findings, we suggest a multi-fold approach to the development of clinical BCIs, rooted in the participatory technology-development. We conclude that clinical BCI development needs to be explored in a disease-related and culturally sensitive way.
脑机接口（BCIs）对于下一代神经假体创新至关重要。只有少数试点项目测试了患者控制脑机接口的能力以及他们对所提供技术的满意度。一方面，对于患者对脑机接口的效益风险比的道德态度以及他们的需求、优先事项和期望知之甚少。另一方面，伦理专家深入讨论了脑机接口的一般风险以及神经增强的局限性。据我们所知，我们在此展示了第一项针对十名慢性病患者的定性访谈研究，这些患者符合运动和通信脑机接口的潜在用户类别，以评估他们对该技术的实际和道德态度。访谈揭示了对运动脑机接口的实际和道德态度，这可能会影响未来的技术发展。我们讨论了关于患者观点的实证研究结果，并将其与神经科学家和伦理学家的观点进行比较。我们的分析表明，潜在用户和专家对脑机接口技术的评估仅部分重叠。它指出了考虑目标患者群体的需求和愿望的重要性。基于我们的研究结果，我们建议采用一种多方面的方法来开发临床脑机接口，这种方法植根于参与式技术开发。我们得出结论，临床脑机接口的开发需要以与疾病相关且对文化敏感的方式进行探索。
