Brain–computer interface: The first experience of clinical use in Russia

Abstract

Motor imagery can stimulate the same neuroplastic mechanisms of the brain as their actual execution. The motor imagery can be controlled via the brain–computer interface (BCI), which transforms the EEG signals of the brain appearing during the motor imagery into commands for the external device. The results of the two-stage study of the application of a non-invasive BCI for the rehabilitation of patients with marked hemiparesis resulted from a local brain injury. We have shown that the learning to manage the BCI does not depend on the duration of disease, localization of the damaged site, and the severity of neurological deficit. The results of the first stage of the study carried out in a group of 36 patients showed that the rehabilitation therapy was more effective in the group that was trained to manage the BCI (the ARAT score improved from 1 [0; 2] to 5 [0; 16], p = 0.012 in the BCI group; no significant improvement was detected in the control group). In the second phase of the study, 19 patients participated in the testing of a BCI–exoskeleton system. Rehabilitation based on this technology led to an improvement of the motor function of an arm from 2 [0; 37] to 4 [1; 45.5], p = 0.005, according to the ARAT scale, and from 72 [63; 110] to 79 [68; 115], p = 0.005, according to the Fugl-Meyer scale.