ABSTRACT

The feasibility and safety of brain-computer interface (BCI) systems for patients with acute/subacute stroke have not been established. The aim of this study was to firstly demonstrate the feasibility and safety of a bedside BCI system for inpatients with acute/subacute stroke in a small cohort of inpatients. Four inpatients with early-phase hemiplegic stroke (7–24 days from stroke onset) participated in this study. The portable BCI system showed real-time feedback of sensorimotor rhythms extracted from scalp electroencephalograms (EEGs). Patients attempted to extend the wrist on their affected side, and neuromuscular electrical stimulation was applied only when the system detected significant movement intention-related changes in EEG. Between 120 and 200 training trials per patient were successfully and safely conducted at the bedside over 2–4 days. Our results clearly indicate that the proposed bedside BCI system is feasible and safe. Larger clinical studies are needed to determine the clinical efficacy of the system and its effect size in the population of patients with acute/subacute post-stroke hemiplegia.

摘要

脑机接口 (BCI) 系统用于急性/亚急性卒中患者的可行性和安全性尚未确定。本研究的目的是首先在一小部分住院患者中证明床边 BCI 系统对急性/亚急性卒中住院患者的可行性和安全性。四名早期偏瘫卒中住院患者（卒中发病后 7-24 天）参与了本研究。便携式 BCI 系统显示了从头皮脑电图 (EEG) 中提取的感觉运动节律的实时反馈。患者试图在受影响的一侧伸展手腕，只有当系统检测到脑电图中与运动意图相关的显着变化时，才会应用神经肌肉电刺激。在 2-4 天内，每位患者在床边成功安全地进行了 120 到 200 次训练试验。我们的结果清楚地表明，所提出的床边 BCI 系统是可行且安全的。需要更大规模的临床研究来确定该系统的临床疗效及其在急性/亚急性卒中后偏瘫患者群体中的作用大小。