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Photo and story by Jude Gustafson

Turan Kayagil, 2006 BESIP Intern

2006 BESIP Participant Publishes Research on Non-invasive Brain Computer Interface Technology

Turan Kayagil, now a rising third-year medical student at Georgetown University School of Medicine, recently published BESIP research findings in the May edition of the Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation. His article, "A binary method for simple and accurate two-dimensional cursor control from EEG with minimal subject training," is further evidence of how unique opportunities offered through the BESIP not only present real-world research challenges for even the brightest students, but they also provide a mentorship framework in which aspiring bioengineers with extra initiative can make meaningful contributions to the world of science.

A lifelong resident of the D.C. area, Kayagil heard good things about NIH internship opportunities in high school. But finally, searching for a meaningful way to fill the summer days prior to his senior year at Duke University, while surfing the BESIP web site, he found an internship project that was a perfect fit for his interests.

Kayagil’s earlier academic connections at Duke University had included Dr. Craig Henriquez, whose brain computer interface (BCI) research was well known. Kayagil wasn’t involved in that research, but it planted a seed that jump started his interest in BCI research, and he sought Professor Henriquez' help in choosing classes that taught the important concepts.

Over time, Kayagil became most interested in the specific challenges of non-invasive BCI research. Providing background, he says, “The brain’s electromagnetic activity is clearer and easier for computers to detect when probes are placed into the brain. In contrast, non-invasive BCI research, which uses EEG technology, involves external sensors. In this case, the brain’s activity must be detected through several barriers, including the skull and other superficial tissues. So, EEG signals aren’t as clear, they’re harder to detect, and they pose a significant challenge for interpretation.”

Reading 2005 BESIP project descriptions, Kayagil learned about NINDS researcher and veteran BESIP mentor, Dr. Mark Hallett, whose laboratory staff was already working on non-invasive BCI research. Kayagil says, “I think it’s very important to develop non-invasive technologies, so I was immediately interested in his projects. Before I applied for the internship, I contacted Dr. Hallett to introduce myself and find out more about him and his research. I was very fortunate to be chosen to work with him.”

Kayagil was immediately surprised how receptive Dr. Hallett and his research team were to his comments and ideas. He says, “From the very beginning, Dr. Hallett was extremely supportive. He was so focused on making my internship very meaningful and beneficial for me, and his mentorship really went one step beyond, allowing me to do my own project.”

Co-founder and Director of the BESIP program since its inception in 1999, Dr. Robert Lutz underscores Kayagil's perceptions saying, "Turan is another shining example of the young bioengineering students whose outstanding abilities and motivation are evolving in the educational system today. The BESIP program was created specifically to provide a richer mentoring environment for these hungry minds. Bringing the biological and engineering disciplines together, it nurtures our interns' broader scientific interests and curiosities. BESIP, NIH, and the whole biomedical community benefit from the contributions these interns make during their summer programs, and later in their careers, as well.”

Dr. Hallett has had a BESIP student in his laboratory each summer since the program started. Kayagil was assigned to work under the supervision and mentoring of Dr. Ou Bai, a biomedical engineer already working on aspects of BCI. Dr. Hallett noted that, “Kayagil was particularly imaginative and hard working, and produced some excellent work in just a short time. Kayagil was able to use some of Dr. Bai’s techniques, and this helped the project move along quickly.”

If successfully developed, Kayagil’s BESIP research would allow subjects to move a computer cursor up and down, and side to side, by simply thinking about performing the action, and Kayagil’s challenge was to put together a system that was sensitive enough to register his subjects’ intent. Knowing the characteristically weak EEG signal would be a critical factor, Kayagil’s research design was built from that premise. Similar studies had required significant subject training, but attempting to avoid those classic tribulations, his “back-to-the-basics” design focused on rudimentary elements.

Kayagil explains, “I proposed and developed a very simple system. I knew that the easiest way to maximize the outcomes would be to lock on to the simplest data classifications in order to provide [cursor] control. So, for example, we didn’t want to have to figure out when the subject was responding; this is a significant challenge with EEG. So we gave subjects a ‘respond now’ prompt, to which they either actually responded, which the computer interpreted as a ‘yes’ response, or they didn’t, which the computer counted as a ‘no’ response. That’s as simple as you can get, and it yielded very accurate data from the signals.” He adds, “It’s a much more cumbersome method of control than you get from single-unit recording, but in comparison to other EEG technologies, I think it holds its own.”

Kayagil was hardly a newcomer to the research world prior to his BESIP application. In 2005, he spent the summer in the laboratory of Dr. Frances Ligler at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering. Kayagil also continued to be active in research following his BESIP internship. In 2007, a senior-level elective course at Duke University zeroed in on neural signal processing, and latching on to interesting results presented in a research paper discussed in that class, Kayagil was compelled to investigate the mystery presented by that prior research under the mentorship of Dr. Warren Grill.

Expounding on that research project, Kayagil says, “When artificially stimulated, muscle motor units are recruited in a certain order, but one study showed that this characteristic order may be reversed in patients who have had spinal cord injuries. There was no conclusive evidence as to why this is the case. So I developed a computational model that simulated this surprising phenomenon. We tried a number of different methods of simulated damage and recovery of neurons to find out which combination best explained the results that were reported in that paper.” (See Mechanisms underlying reversal of motor unit activation order in electrically evoked contractions after spinal cord injury)

Another project at Duke involved designing a device for people with disabilities. On a team of three, Kayagil helped design and build an exercise motivator device for a child diagnosed with autism. He describes the gadget saying, “It was a little box that plugged in to an exercise bike that the child liked to use. The box could control a number of output devices, but in this case, we connected it to a DVD player and set it up so it would only play the movie if he was cycling at a certain speed.” Subsequently, the device was selected as a finalist for the Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America’s 2007 student design competition.

Surprisingly, Kayagil says his path to medical school wasn’t always clear. “Unlike a lot of other medical students, I didn’t really know what I wanted to be when I was young. I never felt like one particular thing was my calling and the rest was just not interesting. It wasn’t until I started the application process for college that I figured out what my options were. But one of the primary reasons I chose the direction I did in college is that, of all the engineering disciplines, biomedical engineering is really the most integrative. It brings biology, mechanical and electrical engineering, computer science, and even the humanities together—all these varied disciplines—and there is such a wide range of applications, too.”

A Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) and Duke University graduate, Kayagil expresses the highest praise for the many teachers and professors who laid the fundamental academic underpinnings that helped him build and sharpen his analytical skills, and provided the intellectual challenges and experiences required to clarify the vision of his professional future. “I don’t think I could have had a higher quality academic experience. The TJ curriculum was so unique and challenging, and they backed that up with exceptional teaching. Duke’s programs and mentors gave me the chance to build exponentially on the learning I did in high school; they opened up so many new dimensions for learning.” Laughing, he adds, “I actually enjoyed most of my classes.”

Kayagil hopes to teach and continue to be involved in research as part of his medical career. “Strong teaching is such an important part of good engineering and good medicine. Not only is it a way to inform and inspire, but teaching someone else is the ultimate way to learn.”

He settles back into his chair, telling how he has become a contemporary “Pinball Wizard” of sorts. Observing his demeanor, one must wonder if he is completely oblivious to his own precocious ingenuity. “I’m a big pinball enthusiast. Last summer, using some software I had worked with in college, I designed a replacement circuit board for one of my pinball machines. I actually got it manufactured, assembled it, and installed it in the game. It’s nice to be able to do this stuff as a hobby.”

For Kayagil, it’s a happy beginning. He states the obvious, “At this point in my life, I’m certain I’m where I belong, and I’m doing exactly what I want to do.” Could it be that his snowballing success is simply a natural outcome for those who find pure contentment in their chosen field, and perceive their daily work as play?

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