Motor Imagery Brain-Computer Interface in Rehabilitation of Upper Limb Motor Dysfunction After Stroke

Summary

The purpose of this study is to provide an important reference for the standard clinical operation of motor imagery brain-computer interface (MI-BCI) for upper limb motor dysfunction after stroke.

Abstract

The rehabilitation effect of patients with moderate or severe upper limb motor dysfunction after stroke is poor, which has been the focus of research owing to the difficulties encountered. Brain-computer interface (BCI) represents a hot frontier technology in brain neuroscience research. It refers to the direct conversion of the sensory perception, imagery, cognition, and thinking of users or subjects into actions, without reliance on peripheral nerves or muscles, to establish direct communication and control channels between the brain and external devices. Motor imagery brain-computer interface (MI-BCI) is the most common clinical application of rehabilitation as a non-invasive means of rehabilitation. Previous clinical studies have confirmed that MI-BCI positively improves motor dysfunction in patients after stroke. However, there is a lack of clinical operation demonstration. To that end, this study describes in detail the treatment of MI-BCI for patients with moderate and severe upper limb dysfunction after stroke and shows the intervention effect of MI-BCI through clinical function evaluation and brain function evaluation results, thereby providing ideas and references for clinical rehabilitation application and mechanism research.

Introduction

Nearly 85% of stroke patients have motor dysfunction¹, especially due to the limited rehabilitation effect of patients with moderate and severe upper limb motor dysfunction, which seriously affects patients' ability to live independent daily lives and has been the focus and difficulty of research. Non-invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) is known as an emerging treatment for rehabilitation of motor dysfunction after stroke². BCI is the direct conversion of the sensory perception, imagery, cognition, and thinking of users or subjects into actions, without reliance on peripheral nerves or muscles, to establish direct co....

Protocol

This project was approved by the Medical Ethics Association of the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University (approval No. KY01-2021-05-01) on August 19, 2021. The trial was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trials Registry (registration number: NO. ChiCTR2100050162) on August 19, 2021. All patients signed the informed consent form.

1. Recruitment

1. Inclusion criteria
   1. Recruit patients who meet the diagnostic criteria of stroke formulated .......

Discussion

The rehabilitation period for moderate and severe upper limb motor dysfunction after stroke is long and the recovery is difficult, which has always been the focus of clinical rehabilitation research¹⁸. Traditional upper limb rehabilitation training is mostly simple peripheral intervention or central intervention¹⁹. Meanwhile, due to the lack of active participation of patients with moderate and severe limb dysfunction, passive treatment is mainly used, with poor rehabilitat.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
MI-BCI	Rui Han, China	RuiHan Bangde	NA
E-Prime		version 3.0	behavioral research software.
fNIRS	Hui Chuang, China	NirSmart-500	NA
NirSpark			preprocess near-infrared data