A Closed Loop Neural Activity Triggered Stroke Rehabilitation Device

The PI of this project was:

This project was funded by: Radiology RD

The term of this project was: September 2012 to December 2013

The number of subjects scanned during this project was: 50

One of the primary goals of this research is to develop a device that is capable of extracting movement intention from EEG data and in real-time, initiate functional electrical stimulation (FES) of the afflicted motor system. Also integrated into the device is the ability to perform coordinated sensory augmentation through a tongue stimulator. We expect that patients receiving the intervention will show increased plasticity (brain reorganization) changes as denoted by greater motor network fMRI activation changes than the patients in the control group. We expect to identify adaptive networks (positive correlation between brain activity changes and behavioral improvement) and maladaptive networks (negative correlation between brain activity changes and behavioral improvement) involved in stroke recovery. This would allow us to further optimize the device in terms of facilitating adaptive networks and suppressing maladaptive networks leading to a faster and more optimal level of stroke recovery.