Official URL: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arn...

This article brings together the various elements that constitute the signal processing challenges presented by a hemodynamics-driven functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) based brain-computer interface (BCI). We discuss the use of optically derived measures of cortical hemodynamics as control signals for next generation BCIs. To this end we present a suitable introduction to the underlying measurement principle, we describe appropriate instrumentation and highlight how and where performance improvements can be made to current and future embodiments of such devices. Key design elements of a simple fNIRS-BCI system are highlighted while in the process identifying signal processing problems requiring improved solutions and suggesting methods by which this might be accomplished.