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Utilising machine learning to enable communication for LIS patients

An engineering student from the University of Santo Tomas (UST), in the Philippines, won the coveted Project of the Year award at the 30th BPI-DOST Science Awards held recently.

According to a recent press release, the student was feted with the sole Project of the Year Award and one of the two Best in Innovation Awards.

With the theme, “Moving the Nation towards Sustainable Development through Science and Innovation,” the awards recognized 30 students for generating scientific research projects and innovations in applied science, health and allied science, physical science, and other related fields.

Background of the project

The project aimed to enable communication with locked-in syndrome patients to increase their quality of life.

Locked-in Syndrome is a form of severe paralysis that results in total loss of motor ability including speech.

It is usually obtained due to traumatic brain injury, neural damage, or most commonly, stroke.

The brief project video explained that stroke is the second leading cause of death in the Philippines, with 15 million adults affected worldwide, and 5 million permanently disabled.

At present, there is no specific medical treatment for it and those affected with the syndrome are limited to blinks and vertical eye movement for basic communication.

The Project

The research proposed a solution, which the researcher called, “typing by thinking.” This means that patients could think of a command and express words displayed on screen.

The project entry is called “Electroencephalogram (EEG)-based Brain Computer Typing Interface Using Imagined Characters for Locked-In Syndrome Patients”.

It involves a brain-computer typing interface using visual imagination of basic shapes and letters. Brain signals were recorded and machine learning was used to classify the aforementioned signals.

Improving UST’s use of ICT

In other news, the University’s newly established Office of Information and Communications Technology held a three-day strategic planning session to craft a unified plan for the University in terms of using ICT.

The session aimed to bring the 3 most digital technology-immersed departments together for a unified strategic planning for the University.

These departments are the Santo Tomas e-Service Providers (STePS), the Educational Technology (EdTech) Centre, and the Institute of Information and Computing Sciences (IICS).

Areas of focus

Among the areas of concern were the interfaces among the three units as well as the need to craft a 5-year strategic plan, backed by a mechanism to accomplish the targets.

In addition, the gathering aimed to draft appropriate policies for the ICT services of the University.

Among the salient points discussed were the competencies of each of the three units and how these can be harmonised toward the same goals.

The STePs provides the robust, reliable, scalable, hardware and network infrastructure. The EdTech Centre, meanwhile, runs the innovations for connected learning on multi-platforms.

The IICS, which is the academic department, is responsible for the creation of technological innovations.

It is also in-charge of training Thomasian IT professionals who are prepared for the fast-changing landscape of information technology.

Becoming an online university

Part of the goals is for the University to be an online university. This move will allow the University to do the following:

  1. Develop and deliver fully online courses
  2. Offer unique courses that are not available to existing program offerings
  3. Model and showcase 21st century teaching and learning practices that embrace student-centric approaches in physical and virtual learning spaces
  4. Develop an exemplary league of online instructors in course design, development, and delivery
  5. Produce digital content for a wider set of audiences

For the academic units, the IICS aims to provide latest technologies to the University.

It will partner closely with the EdTech Center to offer dynamic programs and courses for students, alumni, professionals, and all other stakeholder.

Furthermore, it will strengthen its software development consultancy in close coordination with STePS, in the service of all Thomasian business process owners, by introducing innovative systems and applications for various units in the University.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

PARTNER

CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

PARTNER

Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

PARTNER

HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

PARTNER

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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