Neuroscience meets robotics in stroke rehab

Etienne Burdet (Bioengineering) integrates neuroscience and robotics to develop assistive devices, particularly for people who have suffered a stroke.

Why have you focused on stroke patients?

Stroke is the leading cause of severe physical impairment in the developed world. After a stroke, most patients are brought to the hospital for therapy to get them mobile and discharged quickly; little training is performed with the upper limbs. However, we believe that this is vitally important for daily living and there is a real need for a home-based rehabilitation system.

How have you achieved this?

We’ve integrated robotic tools with a computer game interface to create a touchscreen table that responds to objects fitted with sensors that are placed on it. Patients are encouraged to repeat movements with these objects by interacting with a game on the table. For example, a patient might be asked to simulate an everyday task using our tools, such as opening a lid. We can then examine their performance and encourage them to repeat or change their movements. The tasks can be adapted to patients’ capabilities and an affirmative system provides incentives to improve; we encourage the patient to independently solve a problem. Our system is affordable, comprehensive and easy to use.

What are the future applications?

This could potentially be used by anyone with an upper limb deficit caused by a neurological disorder. For example, we have some data from infants with cerebral palsy, who often have a weaker hand that they avoid using. We have developed toys with sensors that measure how the child moves and encourages them to use both hands to the point where the brain does this naturally, without prompting.

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