Development of high-density surface-electromyographic biomarkers to improve stroke rehabilitation, management, and prognosis

Stroke is a leading cause of disability and mortality all over the world: for example, someone in the UK has a stroke every 3.5 seconds. Clinical advances have decreased its mortality rate; however, the provision of rehabilitation to meet current demand, whilst improving patient outcomes related to care and quality of life, is still in critical demand globally. With over 15 million cases annually worldwide, 5 million people are left with a permanent disability every year. It is estimated that, between 2015 and 2035, excluding consequences associated with Covid-19, an increase of 60% in cases and a rise of 250% in social care costs to £65 billion is predicted. However, this figure is likely to increase due to the pandemic (attributable to Covid-19 directly and because of changes in lifestyle). This rapidly increasing number of stroke survivors is creating a significant demand for rehabilitation services, causing a considerable burden on an already stretched system. If new approaches to accurately predict motor recovery and to set realistic rehabilitation goals for patients are not developed urgently, these numbers will continue to grow exponentially.
Innovative approaches, such as distinct characteristics of the body (electrophysiological biomarkers) that can be measured to predict recovery, accelerate recovery rate, and allow for patient-centred rehabilitation regimes, could dramatically increase the efficiency and effectiveness of rehabilitation and stroke management. The proposed research aims to be the first to utilise specific patterns of activity from patients' muscles following stroke, to accurately evaluate motor impairment and use this to guide and optimise therapeutic input. This project will be a step-change compared to current stroke management and will develop new and accurate patient-centred approaches that will address this potential multi-billion pound healthcare crisis and radically improve patients' quality of life following stroke.
This approach has the potential to also be used in rehabilitation therapies for a range of other related conditions (e.g. Lewy body dementia, Parkinson's disease) and injuries (e.g. incomplete spinal cord injuries) and so could make a significant contribution to quality of life for a large number of patients.