Chapter 18 - Brain–computer interfaces for neurorehabilitation: enhancing functional electrical stimulation

Abstract

This chapter presents the integration of functional electrical stimulation therapy and brain–computer interfaces to restore voluntary motor function after paralysis resulting from stroke and spinal cord injury. Functional electrical stimulation therapy is a short-term intervention in which patients attempt a series of functional tasks while a train of electrical pulses, triggered by a therapist, produces contractions of the muscles required to produce the intended movement. It is believed that the simultaneous presence of a motor command, produced by the attempted motion, and the corresponding sensory information, resulting from the artificially produced movement, promote changes in the nervous system that result in improved motor function after the therapy. Brain–computer interfacing technology offers a new opportunity to use indicators of the intention to move in the electroencephalographic activity to trigger the electrical stimulation. Early results suggest that this combination of technologies is effective for motor rehabilitation even in the most severe cases of paralysis.