Ang, K. K., Chua, K. S. G., Phua, K. S., Wang, C., Chin, Z. Y., Kuah, C. W. K., Low, W., & Guan, C. (2015). A Randomized Controlled Trial of EEG-Based Motor Imagery Brain-Computer Interface Robotic Rehabilitation for Stroke. Clin. EEG Neurosci., 46(4), 310-320.
Abstract:
Electroencephalograpy-based (EEG) Motor Imagery Brain-Computer Interface (MI-BCI) technology has the prospects of restoring motor function by inducing activity-dependent brain plasticity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of an EEG-based MI-BCI system coupled with MANUS shoulder-elbow robotic feedback (BCI-MANUS) for chronic stroke subjects with upper limb hemiparesis.
In this single-blind, randomized trial, 26 hemiplegic subjects (Fugl-Meyer Motor Assessment (FMMA) scores 4-40/66, 15 males, mean age 50.5 years, mean stroke duration 313.9 days) pre-screened with the ability to use MI-BCI, were randomly allocated to the BCI-MANUS or MANUS therapy, which consisted of total 18 hours over 4 weeks. Efficacy was measured using upper extremity FMMA scores at weeks 0, 2, 4 and 12. EEG data from subjects allocated to BCI-MANUS were quantified using the revised Brain Symmetry Index (rBSI), and analyzed for correlation with the improvements in FMMA score.
11 and 15 subjects underwent BCI-MANUS and MANUS therapies respectively. One subject for MANUS dropped out. Total FMMA scores (mean (SD)) at weeks 0, 2, 4, 12 weeks improved for both groups: 26.3 (10.3), 27.4 (12.0), 30.8 (13.8), 31.5 (13.5) for BCI-MANUS; and 26.6 (18.9), 29.9 (20.6), 32.9 (21.4) and 33.9 (20.2) for MANUS, without inter-group differences (P=0.51). More subjects attained further FMMA gains at week 12 from BCI-MANUS (7/11, 63.6%) than MANUS (5/14, 35.7%). A negative correlation was found between the rBSI and FMMA score improvements (P=0.026). The BCI-MANUS therapy was well tolerated and not associated with adverse events.
License type:
PublisherCopyrights
Funding Info:
The Enterprise Challenge grant, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore, and in part by the Science and Engineering Research Council of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore.