Stroke is caused by an acute focal disruption of the vasculature in the central nervous system. Neurological-related functional deficits are the most devastating consequences for stroke survivors. Neural signals from stroke patients can reflect the functional statuses of patients and provide insights into the neuronal recovery mechanism for functioning, which could be used as the basis for designing optimal treatment strategies. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a low-cost, noninvasive, easily operated neuroimage method and it is compatible with various rehabilitative programs. These advantages make NIRS an excellent candidate in research for stroke recovery. Here, we focused on the brain functions and recovery for stroke patients at stable status, conducted a systematic literature review about NIRS applications in stroke since 2000 and identified a total of 72 references through ScienceDirect and PubMed database retrieval. The NIRS studies in stroke include resting-state function and its recovery, motor function and its recovery, motor and cognition interference, cognitive function and its recovery, language function and its recovery, emotional function and its recovery and other applications. Based on the results of the quality assessment, we identified some study gaps from the previous research and provided suggestions for some methodological improvement in the future. The trend of NIRS gives a boost to its application in stroke, and the potential research directions for NIRS in stroke are prospected, including multi-center clinical research, treatment efficacy prediction research and brain–muscle coupling research. Finally, limitations of NIRS are discussed.

中文翻译：

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近红外光谱作为一种有前途的中风工具：当前应用和未来前景

中风是由中枢神经系统脉管系统的急性局灶性破坏引起的。与神经相关的功能缺陷是中风幸存者最具破坏性的后果。来自中风患者的神经信号可以反映患者的功能状态，并提供对功能的神经元恢复机制的见解，可作为设计最佳治疗策略的基础。近红外光谱 (NIRS) 是一种低成本、无创、易于操作的神经成像方法，它与各种康复计划兼容。这些优势使 NIRS 成为卒中恢复研究的优秀候选者。在这里，我们专注于稳定状态的中风患者的大脑功能和恢复，自 2000 年以来，对 NIRS 在中风中的应用进行了系统的文献回顾，并通过 ScienceDirect 和 PubMed 数据库检索确定了总共 72 篇参考文献。脑卒中近红外光谱研究包括静息态功能及其恢复、运动功能及其恢复、运动与认知干扰、认知功能及其恢复、语言功能及其恢复、情绪功能及其恢复等应用。基于质量评估的结果，我们发现了以往研究中的一些研究差距，并为未来的一些方法学改进提供了建议。NIRS的发展趋势推动了其在脑卒中的应用，展望了NIRS在脑卒中的潜在研究方向，包括多中心临床研究、治疗效果预测研究和脑-肌肉耦合研究。最后，讨论了 NIRS 的局限性。