Eight-year-old Giselle Alnaser wants the Elmo stuffed toy sitting on a stool across the room, and she鈥檚 going to use her brain waves to get it.

As her mother encourages her with calls of, 鈥淟et鈥檚 go, let鈥檚 go, let鈥檚 go!鈥� Giselle concentrates asthe platform beneath her wheelchair appears to roll by itself toward Elmo. She smiles when she reaches the stool and an occupational therapist hands her the toy.

Giselle was diagnosed with a CAMK2b gene mutation when she was a toddler. It affects her brain鈥檚 ability to communicate with her muscles 鈥� meaning she can鈥檛 walk or move her arms much 鈥� and she鈥檚 not able to speak.

The Brain Computer Interface program at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto develops technology that allows Giselle and dozens of other physically disabled children to use their minds to move and play.

鈥�(These are) children who are not able to move themselves in space, (who) don鈥檛 have reliable movement and don鈥檛 have verbal communication or have difficulty with verbal communication. So really their only way of interacting with the environment is through their thoughts,鈥� said Susannah Van Damme, an occupational therapist and team lead for the hospital鈥檚 clinical BCI program.

The brain computer interface works like an on-off switch triggered by electrical patterns in the brain. While wearing a headset with EEG electrodes, the child is asked to think about something specific that will serve as a 鈥渃ommand鈥� thought. The child is then asked to relax and put their mind in a quiet, passive state, which serves as the 鈥渟top鈥� thought.

The electrodes transmit those electrical signals to a computer, where they are saved. The computer is trained through artificial intelligence to recognize those specific brain patterns when it sees them again and start or stop whatever device it鈥檚 connected to 鈥� such as Giselle鈥檚 rolling wheelchair platform.

鈥淎s long as an individual can generate activity in the brain you can kind of flick the switch and control the activity,鈥� said Tom Chau, senior scientist and head of Holland Bloorview鈥檚 Paediatric Rehabilitation Intelligent Systems Multidisciplinary lab.

Giselle generates a 鈥渃ommand鈥� thought bythinking about moving fast in her wheelchair, or focusing on the phrase 鈥済o, go, go.鈥�

But any thought will do. The key is for the child to concentrate on it while the computer records the electrical brain pattern it creates.

Then when the child wants to make something happen, they think the same thought again, generating the same brain pattern that the computer now recognizes.

鈥�(When a child) sends that 鈥済o鈥� signal, the computer interprets that just as a command to start, to activate whatever it is that it鈥檚 attached to,鈥� Van Damme said.

For another activity, the team attaches the computer to a bubble maker. The same command thoughts that allow Giselle to move her wheelchair now allow her to make bubbles appear.

In agame of 鈥渇reeze,鈥� the computer is programmed to play music when she thinks her command thought. As the Barney dance song plays, Giselle turns the music on and off as her mom and hospital staff dance around her. When she stops the music to make them freeze in position, Giselle smiles with delight.

鈥淪omeone who has not been able to turn on their favourite music or play a video game because of a physical disability, they can use their brain power to do that,鈥� Van Damme said.

Giselle鈥檚 parents, Samah Darwish and Naser Alnaser, said watching their daughter use BCI technology has been 鈥渁mazing.鈥�

鈥淟ike any parent, you want some independence for the kids to do their own things 鈥� to move, to play, to learn and everything,鈥� said Alnaser.

鈥淭o be herself. To be a kid.鈥�

Although BCI research has occurredin various parts of the world for decades, a Canadian network comprised of Holland Bloorview, Alberta Children鈥檚 Hospital in Calgary and Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton has taken the lead in recent years in bringing the technology to children and youth with disabilities.

鈥淥ne thing that we noticed as a group of clinicians who see children and their families was that although those BCI technologies are rapidly advancing, the pediatric population were really neglected,鈥� said Dr. John Andersen, a University of Alberta associate professor of pediatrics who leads the BCI program at Glenrose.

鈥淲e wanted to see how we can make this accessible to children and learn from them and their families to kind of co-develop how this emerging technology can be accessible in its current form and how we can develop the technology and expertise around it in the future,鈥� said Andersen, noting that Chau at Holland Bloorview has been the trailblazer for the group.

Although the on-off switch activities help children and youth with neuromotor disabilities gain more control in their lives, the researchers say developing BCI technology to help non-verbal children communicate is the next major step 鈥� and a priority requested by their parents.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been doing research in communication for, you know, two decades now. But we鈥檙e finally getting it to the point where you鈥檙e going to be able to translate it,鈥� said Chau.

The hope is that in the near future, children will be able to use BCI to convey wants and needs using their minds, he said.

鈥�(That would) really unlock huge potential for kids who鈥檝e been basically trapped in their own bodies,鈥� Chau said.

鈥淭hey have so much that they want to express. And there鈥檚 just never been the means.鈥�