Motor rehabilitation for hemiparetic stroke patients using a brain-computer interface method

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have been employed in rehabilitation training for post-stroke patients. In this study, we present the results of the intervention based on BCI triggered functional electrical stimulation (FES) and avatar mirroring. Seven chronic stroke patients participated in 25 sessions of training over 13 weeks. Seven assessments were conducted to observe any behavioral changes before and after the intervention. The primary outcome measure, i.e. the Fugl-Meyer Assessment of the Upper Extremity (FMA-UE), increased significantly by 6.4 points (p=0.048), which is above the minimal clinically important difference (MCID). The Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), one of the secondary outcome measures, reduced significantly in both the wrist and the finger (p=0.046 and p=0.047 respectively). This study demonstrated motor function improvement and spasticity reduction in chronic stroke patients (n=7) after BCI triggered FES and avatar mirroring. One limitation of this study is that the small sample size may not adequately represent the diverse stroke population. Further work should include a randomized controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of BCI triggered FES compared to conventional therapies.