BCI with functional electrical stimulation for restoration of motor function

Brain computer interface combined with functional electrical stimulation (FES) is a novel promising technique for nerurorehabiliation following stroke or spinal cord injury. Current BCI typically reply on imagination of movement of a single limb and do not allow large choice of functional movement. Hybrid BCI which combines two BCI protocols such as motor imagination and steady state visual evoked potential would enable creating BCI with larger "degrees of freedom" which would allow patients to practice a larger range of movements. In addition combination of BCI with immersive virtual reality would allow safe practice of a variety of activities of daily living which are otherwise difficult or unsafe to organise in reality. The main novelties of the project are (i) hybrid BCI for FES control (ii) combined uni and bimanual training. (iii) feasibility test on spinal cord injured patient population.
The proposed PhD will have the following objectives
1. Create hybrid BCI to control a range of functional uni and bimanual movements through functional electrical stimulation; test the system on healthy volunteers
2. Create VR environment to practice activities of daily living
3. Integrate BCI-FES with VR; test on healthy volunteers
4. Feasibility test on a limited number of spinal cord injured patients