• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.101-107
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• 2024

Steady-state visual evoked potential-based brain-computer interface (SSVEP-BCI) is one of the promising systems that can serve as an alternative input device due to its stable and fast performance. However, one of the major bottlenecks is that some individuals exhibit no or very low SSVEP responses to flickering stimulation, known as SSVEP illiteracy, resulting in low performance on SSVEP-BCIs. However, a lengthy duration is required to enhance multiple SSVEP responses using traditional single-frequency transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). This research proposes a novel approach using dual-frequency tACS (df-tACS) to potentially enhance SSVEP by targeting the two frequencies with the lowest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for each participant. Seven participants (five males, average age: 24.42) were exposed to flickering checkerboard stimuli at six frequencies to determine the weakest SNR frequencies. These frequencies were then simultaneously stimulated using df-tACS for 20 minutes, and the experiment was repeated to evaluate changes in SSVEP responses. The results showed that df-tACS effectively enhances the SNR at each targeted frequency, suggesting it can selectively improve target frequency responses. The study supports df-tACS as a more efficient solution for SSVEP illiteracy, proposing further exploration into multi-frequency tACS that could stimulate more than two frequencies, thereby expanding the potential of SSVEP-BCIs.